I used to see our previous MP quite often. I've had lunch with him. He was something of a family friend.

(May 8, 2015 at 3:50 am)robvalue Wrote: Fuck, fuck, bastards. It seems like Tories are going to get a sufficient number to rule alone

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I don't like UKIP but this election seems to highlight why the current system is stupid, at least it seems so to me. UKIP are getting thousands or even tens of thousands of votes, coming second in many places, and all those votes get totally wiped off and ignored. They have 1 seat to show for all that.

They tell people to get out and vote, but all those people trying to stop the Tories voted for nothing, no matter who they voted for, in Tory areas.

Can anyone explain why this isn't stupid? Why is it done by area and not just adding up votes across the whole country?

I'm actually glad Tories have a majority rather than a Labour/SNP government, but I agree, it's pretty stupid how UKIP have so much support but that counts for nothing in actual seats.

So just to prove that you can never trust an opinion poll, the results are looking pretty clear.

(May 8, 2015 at 5:56 am)Ben Davis Wrote: So just to prove that you can never trust an opinion poll, the results are looking pretty clear.

My dad kept telling me "don't be surprised if the Tories win a majority".

I literally said "what planet are you on?"

He's going to be all kinds of smug next time I see him.

It's projected to be a tiny majority, though. Three at the moment. Couple of deaths or scandals and we play the game again. Cameron or whoever replaces him at any point is going to be doing a lot of appeasement deals.

(May 8, 2015 at 5:57 am)Napoléon Wrote: My dad kept telling me "don't be surprised if the Tories win a majority".

I literally said "what planet are you on?"

He's going to be all kinds of smug next time I see him.

My step-brother, too. He's a Tory councillor.

I'm most angry at the way that UKIP has diverted attention from Tory mismanagement of important subjects like NHS, welfare, taxation, national debt, policing, employment and defence (and the harm that's been done as a result) towards immigration. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Dave and Nigel had quiet words with each other.

(May 8, 2015 at 5:58 am)Stimbo Wrote: It's projected to be a tiny majority, though. Three at the moment. Couple of deaths or scandals and we play the game again. Cameron or whoever replaces him at any point is going to be doing a lot of appeasement deals.

Truthfully I think they will be ok even if they get some rebels. They can govern effectively as a minority.

The other parties fundamentally disagree with each other so getting them to agree in opposition will be an uphill struggle (loathing between SNP and Labour for example).

What annoys me the most here is the sheer number of seats that Scotland get relative to their size. Smaller than the West Midlands in terms of population, yet many times the seats. Barnett formula and West Lothian Question need an answer.

Next big vote - EU referendum.

OK, well I have some numbers now. Green Party got 1 millions votes, UKIP got 3 million. That's out of about 70 million people. Yet they get 1 and 2 seats respectively for their voice in parliament. That is screwed up.

I can see the idea about having a local politician, and I'm not saying I have a perfect replacement. I just think all those millions of votes going down the pan isn't right. If those millions of people shuffled around the country differently, they could have 10 times as many seats. It seems like the voices in parliament aren't a fair representation of the voting public.

Totally agree, something is broken somewhere but is the alternative any better :/

(May 8, 2015 at 6:46 am)StuW Wrote: Totally agree, something is broken somewhere but is the alternative any better :/

In my opinion, yes. Proportional representation would be a fairer system. It's about damn time we modernised our system of governance.
We can dissolve the monarchy, renovate the house of commons/lords and stop our judges dressing like utter cunts at the same time, all in one fell swoop.