http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13320029it did occur to me staring at the ballot paper that it could be perfectly possible to completely miss the question if one was a low ability reader in a hurry or whatever.... i felt i had to really concentrate to make sure i was ticking the box i intended to..... i did wonder how many others caught themselves out however one hopes this was insignificant in numbers...
i am interested in the post mortem stuff though... shoudl never have had the referendum on AV that no-one really wanted we should never have had referendum on the same day as the local elections which took over folks attention ... well i think there is good sense to all that but the fact of the matter is that Clegg messed up on all fronts and more besides.... a trick question on how to gain entry to parliament by the back door to improve numbers
i find also really interesting the defensive spat from Paddy Ashdown first blaming new labor... well they did promise electoral reform which they never quite got round to ... though i do recall unka tony saying that the 1997 manifesto was a long project.... and then tigering the tories angrily.... for the quality of the no campaign.....
the bit that i do feel sympathetic towards though was the whole actual vote thing ... not only did first past the post disenfranchise parties that attracted the votes but couldn't quite captivate the seats proportionate to that apparent interest (and i had noticed that the libdems appeared to be significant losers... and had previously felt this to be unfair!) but it successively elected minority candidates ie ones that hardly attracted a majority of the vote.. most of the time in fact even just counting the numbers of those who voted there were only a handful of candidates at each election that could- even ignoring the no vote of the non voters(though some would argue not voting meant any candidate would do)- be said to have won the election cos they got more than 50% of the electorate...
in the aftermath .... such stories come to light such as David Owen an advocate of pr actively encouraging the no vote cos AV didn't cut it for him.... alternatively we could have had a referendum on any of the voting systems already in place in ni wales or scotland or even the systems...
soooo..... apart from Clegg being showed up ... maybe just for his inexperience while Cameron has hit a six and a home run all in one...
though shoudl Clegg stand down?
has the dialogue about electoral reform nowhere left to run to for the next 15 years or is there a case for trying again... is this an issue that we can confidently leave in the hands of the politicians or is it one that we should be fighting vigorously for ... and if so what system would suit our long term future needs and should we bother about a political past that has become quite a poison challice....
are we for coalitions in principle or do we prefer to stick to an adversarial system where a minority government gets all the power will nilly for the next 5 years or so? and no-one can do a thing about it no matter how unpopular they are or how much damage they are perceived to be doing so long as they do not self combust in the process...??
when i saw the electoral commissioner on the beeb i have to say that i did feel drawn to ask her what about the no campaign literature or even what about the whole idea to have a referendum while everyone was boozed out on the royal wedding ... well .... distracted in part by all the other electoral activities....
me personally couldn't care less the thing i wanted to vote for was not on the ballot paper
GOD BLESS!
Peacee and Love,
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