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Do you think a party other than the two main parties could ever win office?

(10 Posts)
silverlining48 Wed 17-Jan-24 10:36:03

It was 1971 when men voted that women Could have the vote!
!

silverlining48 Wed 17-Jan-24 10:32:35

I would agree with referendums but the Swiss havnt always been so forward thinking. Women only got the vote in the 70 s or 80 s, not sure of exact year but it certainly wasn’t long ago,

Baggs Wed 17-Jan-24 10:26:35

The Swiss referendum system has appealed to me too, fancythat. Not for every decision but certainly for important changes in the law.

MaizieD Wed 17-Jan-24 08:51:56

It won't happen under our First Past the Post system. We've seen new parties come and go over the years with very little success.

A new or minority party would have a better chance under PR when more voters would believe that their vote actually counted. Even then, they'd be more likely to be a junior coalition partner than the main party of government.

TerriBull Wed 17-Jan-24 08:17:21

Didn't Macron come out of nowhere with his party en marche, trouncing the major parties at the time, so I guess it could happen if that party galvanised enough support.

I've often thought our two major parties should both split in two, maybe they will both produce offshoots. Many a time I've heard MPs from both sides saying "we're a broad church" but there are dissatisfied factions within.

nanna8 Wed 17-Jan-24 07:38:59

Here most parties are elected on preferences I.e. when a minor party fails to get in all their votes go to a major party that they have ‘preferred’. It’s not ideal, either, quite unfair in some ways.

fancythat Wed 17-Jan-24 07:22:45

I like the Swiss model of doing things.
Many referendums. Something like 10 a year sometimes?
Not sure if they have main parties or not.
But the Swiss people have a much more democratic way of doing things. In my opinion.

fancythat Wed 17-Jan-24 07:19:41

I wish.
I have voted for others rather than the main two, in the past. But when you see how many others did when votes have been counted, it has been disappointing.

There has to be a seismic shift in thinking I think.
Not sure enough people, in the Uk anyway, are at that point yet.
Could be wrong. Hope I am.

Curtaintwitcher Wed 17-Jan-24 07:14:01

I think the whole system needs an overhaul. An MP is supposed to represent the people of their constituency, this is their main purpose. They shouldn't have to be a member of a particular
party.
I think we should do away with parties altogether, and have debates in Parliament before decisions are made.

nanna8 Wed 17-Jan-24 05:45:40

Not just thinking of the UK but also Australia and even the USA. There is a lot of discontentment and disaffection with the 2 major parties - does this leave the door open for a ‘minority’ party or even an extreme party to win office? In the UK I would think of Reform UK. In Australia it is more the ‘teals’ but I have no idea if there are any parties other than Democrats and Republicans in the US. Probably couldn’t put the money up there ? Are people really conservative, small ‘c’ when it comes to voting, having seen what happened in Germany in the 1930s ? I think many countries are at a bit of a crossroads just now and there is a danger with that.