It looks like he got the big concession

Post #326,009 by jay 5/11/10 5:05:50 PM Reply	It looks like he got the big concession http://news.bbc.co.u...wales/8675383.stm The Conservatives have offered the Lib Dems a referendum on changing the voting system from the existing "first past the post" system to the alternative vote system (AV). Under AV, voters rank candidates in a constituency. If no-one gets 50% of votes the candidate finishing last gets eliminated and their second preferences are awarded to the remaining candidates. This continues until one candidates passes the 50% mark. If this promise is actually meaningful, it is should be approved by the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems would have probably preferred a straight fully proportional Parliament, but AV will be an easier sell and is an improvement over the current situation (both in the sense of being more fair and being easier on minor parties). Jay
Post #326,013 by pwhysall 5/11/10 5:43:25 PM Reply	Nah. It'll never, ever get through the house; electoral reform is a load of handwaving to make the coalition get past the triple lock of the LD constitution. AV would mean the final destruction of Labour in Scotland (in favour of the SNP) and there are plenty of Tories who will rebel. What he got was Deputy PM and four other Cabinet positions.
Post #326,028 by jay 5/11/10 10:41:26 PM Reply	It wouldn't surprise me I stuck a very big conditional on the original statement because there are all kinds of ways that the Tories can back out or sabotage it later. They could just do it in a way that insures it fails or point to some economic/political/military crisis that makes it impractical. Either way, if that happens the government probably blows up, because even if Clegg wants to hold it together, I don't think he can keep the party in line. The only way I can see the Conservatives supporting it is if they are calculating that the damage will be so much worse for Labour then the Tories that the Tories will come out ahead. I really don't see that happening. What could happen though is that the Conservatives weakly follow through with their agreement, putting it to a national referendum without any real Conservative support at all. In this case they are hoping the Lib Dems can't sell the referendum nationally on their own and lose the vote. From Static That sounds like`Instant Run-Off. As far as I can tell, it is just a British term for the same thing. Jay
Post #326,018 by warmachine 5/11/10 7:03:56 PM Reply	I'd have never believed that would ever happen I thought Cameron would never, ever get AV or any other voting system past his MPs. They, along with Labour, would lose seats. However, the devil is always in the detail. I think the referendum will take place but budget cuts will cripple any civil service explanatory campaign, an underfunded Electoral Commission will lead to mistakes and create a bad atmosphere, and controlled timing combined with coalition difficulties will allow co-ordination with the Murdoch papers to run anti-PR propaganda at full speed. -------------------------------------------- Matthew Greet I'm not prejudiced. I hate everyone equally.
Post #326,022 by static 5/11/10 8:53:15 PM Reply	That sounds like`Instant Run-Off. That's we use for most Australian elections. Election analysts know how that works and it's not much more complicated than what FPTP is, either to cast or to count. We have most of our electorates counted within six hours of the booths closing. True proportional voting (we use a variation of that for our Senates) is much more complex and takes a few weeks for counting to finish. You'll get a lot of horse-trading between smaller parties about default preferences, though. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.

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