Has First Past the Post had its day?

I've been in favour of PR for a long time. It's ridiculous that an MP can be elected on a minority of votes in their constituency because there are a number of parties contesting the seat. They clearly don't represent the wishes of most of their constituents and by leading people to believe that their vote doesn't count it engenders a lack of trust in democracy.

FPTP may have worked fine in the days when there was substantially a binary choice between parties but those days are long gone.

I see no problem with 'hung' parliaments if it means that a more consensual approach to legislation is necessary. Parliament should reflect the diversity of views of the population and work to accommodate them.

Living where I do, I have no choice than to vote tactically. My own party is very much in the minority. Every vote for the Lib Dems is one more against the Tory. And she has been an excellent constituency MP in the past.
From the last email from the Tory to anyone who has emailed him in the past, I don't think he is expecting to keep his seat :-)

The first past the post system can encourage 'tactical voting' can't it? I'm not sure how that works, but there seems to be an appetite for it this coming GE. I do remember it working 15 (?) years ago when an unpopular government minister was unseated.

Maw . ''just wondering what your own views are''

I have mixed feelings- as I have seen the worst of both. Instinctively, I am pro PR- because I have felt all my life that my voted counted for nothing for all those years. Happen to live in areas which were not representative of my views and politics. Always voted, on principle- but it is hard to get involved and feel enthusiastic when you know you can't make a difference with your vote.

Then I go worried about the rise of the far right and Farage- and I wrote to Charles Kennedy to tell him that although I am in favour of PR- I am concerned it would help them to rise. He sent me an amazing 3 page letter- and I so wish I had kept it. I can see me hesitating as we were preparing for the big move- and it went in the recycling. He made me realise that democracy has to be representative, and that we have to work and fight even harder to defeat the far right. I think he was right.

Recently in Switzerland, the far right has been of concern- especially in very traditional rural areas. But 2 weeks ago, in several regions, and in particular in mine - they were beaten soundly and taken over by The Greens- both at Cantonal and Federal level- which was a great surprise and very exciting (as I voted for them- as I personally knew the candidates both male and female- and they are great people).

I so hope that Prof Curtice is right- and that this election will see more non Tory, non Labour, candidates- both Lib Dems and yes, probably Brexit too-and shake the system up.

The indifference of the electorate to changing voting procedures was indicated by the 2011 referendum on the subject.

Turn out was 42% and those supporting it were only a third of total turn out. Yes, the idea as suggested in this referendum was not a very good one, but I think even that reflected the total indifference, including many politicians they just could not be bothered to put forward a carefully thought out and tested system.

Gaunt47
I was reading an article at the weekend about the political situation in Israel, and it struck me that it's not much different here. Even down to Netanyahu facing court proceedings.
As with BJ, and Trump

PR is not going to happen the Tories and Labour are not going to vote themselves out of power, despite the current debacle in parliament caused by a referendum. If the issue had been left to elected MPs we would not be in this mess, a decisive vote would have been made.
That’s why we elect them or should a referendum be held for every issue.

The idea of replacing first by the post seems to bring out a great deal of hand wringing and cries of, oh what about our democracy.
To which I reply, we don't have a democracy because of the first past the post system - we have an elected dictatorship.
The government of Israel is at an impasse, yes, but so is that of the UK and has been for 3 long years.

Fair enough - but the question is- has it had its day and would be better replaced with another system, or not.

As for Referendums - deserves another thread. Certainly require full and precise information on the question provided at the time of campaign, by unbiased sources- and probably a minimum % of vote required. And cancellation if fraud is proven, especially multiple fraud.

You only have to look at the present political impasse in the Knesset to see that it isn't necessarily the best answer.

Not a simple FPTP v Proportional Representation is it?

There are many variations in electoral systems, but the most common systems are first-past-the-post voting, the two-round (runoff) system, proportional representation and ranked voting. Some electoral systems, such as mixed systems, attempt to combine the benefits of non-proportional and proportional systems

Just wondering what your own views are.

Well, as we are in the middle of yet another GE campaign- and the FPP apllies to GE elections- I thought it was self-evident.

Different forms of proportional representation - usually with a minimum % to be counted.

I took it that you were talking about the electorate making their views felt.
Would you be prepared to outline the alternative systems currently in use?

MawB - there is no comparison for sure. I am talking about the election of MPs here- that does not happen with a Referendum anywhere that I know.

I hope it has. We're in a minority in the world, and it only leads to tactical voting. We should be voting for who we would like, not voting to keep another party out. The rest of Europe and Scotland seem to manage very well with PR: why can't we?
Westminster reflects the nation as a whole in that it is bogged down in a bygone era. Why does it need to take 15 - 20 minutes to have a vote for goodness sake, when electronic voting could do it in seconds.
It makes me so angry.

Well it’s better than referenda isn’t it?