New from Parliament today: "The Electoral Commission has agreed to work with the Commission, Speaker and other parties to develop a campaigning code of conduct. The Commission is aiming to have a draft version in place ahead of the May 2026 elections that could be built upon for future elections."
π₯ Professor Vernon Bogdanor writes for @financialtimes.com:
"An electoral system should do two things: ensure that the majority rules and that significant minorities are adequately represented.
First Past the Post achieves neither."
π Democracy wins! The government has scrapped ministersβ power to influence the Electoral Commission.
The Strategy and Policy Statement risked political interference - now itβs gone!
This is a significant step towards rebuilding public trust. Free and fair elections rely on an impartial referee.
"While votes at 16 is a genuinely historic step, how motivated will young voters feel when, for so many, their vote will almost certainly change nothing?
The most powerful thing we could do to engage all voters is to give them a system in which their votes actually matter."
Well said π
π Really positive news coming from parliament that the government will scrap the Strategy and Policy Statement for the @electoralcommission.org.uk.
β οΈ We previously warned about the risks of keeping the statement in place in our report, Democracy in Danger 𧡠β¬οΈ
Excellent summary of some of the flaws of AMS used for Scottish Parliament elections.
β Too many FPTP seats
π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ Regional PR skews the national picture
π³οΈ dβHondt bias for larger parties
The SNP could win a majority in May on far less than 50% of the vote
AMS is better than FPTP but we need reform
After Gorton and Denton, Keir Starmer is safe
But the same won't be said after 7 May votes in Scotland, Wales, and English locals
The Green win in Gorton and Denton further cements the reality of our multi party system
Five Westminster parties could well get over 10% of the vote each in 2029
We must not stop banging the drum for Proportional Representation π₯ π³οΈ
There is no defence for First Past the Post in 2026
With three candidates standing a good chance of winning today in Gorton and Denton, small changes in the vote could decide the winner β but whatever happens, there is a good chance that two-thirds of voters will end up with an MP they didn't vote for. buff.ly/gUjPNaQ
With the polls so close, many voters in Gorton & Denton won't feel free to vote for who they believe in.
That's the unfair choice First Past the Post gives voters: risk your vote counting for nothing, or vote tactically to block someone else.
Thatβs not real choice. That's not real democracy.
People deserve the chance to make positive choices. Yet we have a voting system that forces voters to make tactical judgements about which parties might or might not be placed to beat another party that they might really dislike.
Obviously Andrew shouldn't be in the line of succession. But the whole (ridiculous) point of monarchy is deciding our head of state due to accidents of history and bloodlines. There's no picking the good ones and leaving out the bad
It's time to move on from unelected monarchs and embrace modernity
Over 50 academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an "unprecedented" scale at the next general election. www.politicshome.com/news/article...
π¨BREAKING NEWS π¨
50 leading academics, former senior public officials and politics, law and policy experts warn about the risks of First Past the Post.
Letter in @politicshome.bsky.social today π
And even with two parties it's hugely flawed!
I know Mandelson had scandals in his past there were public, but I didn't appreciate how many and how bad they were
Baffling that Starmer picked him as ambassador in the first place
Starmer will hold on, but only because no one will want to take over before Labour get pummelled in Scotland & Wales
The banter timeline is Andy Burnham becoming an MP but losing a leadership election and sitting on the backbenches with way fewer powers than as mayor
I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.
The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.
What a finale #TheTraitors
I don't think any government would want to handle this and endorse it directly - it was always likely to be a PMB or similar.
On the second point though, absolutely
Reform winning almost half the seats available on less than 1 in 4 votes
How many more unrepresentative elections do we have to take until our voting system is changed?!
Map of projected seats. Constituencies are 62 SNP, 2 Conservative, 3 Labour, 5 Lib Dem, 1 Green, 0 Alba, 0 Reform. Regional list seats are 0 SNP, 10 Conservative, 15 Labour, 4 Lib Dem, 10 Green, 0 Alba, 17 Reform. Lead party per region is Central and Lothians West SNP, Edinburgh and Lothians East SNP, Glasgow SNP, Highlands and Islands SNP, Mid and Fife SNP, North East SNP, South SNP, West SNP. Gallagher Index is 14.5 - a lower index means a more proportional result.
Map of projected runners up and margins. Constituency runner ups are SNP 10, Conservative 12, Labour 38, Lib Dem 4, Green 2, Reform UK 7. In percentage terms, constituency margins of victory are 7 below 5, 12 between 5 and 10, 37 between 10 and 20, 17 above 20. Closest runner up for last list seat in each region is Central and Lothians West Reform UK, Edinburgh and Lothians East Conservative, Glasgow Labour, Highlands and Islands Green, Mid and Fife Lib Dem, North East Reform UK, South Reform UK, West Conservative.
Norstat 13-16 Jan seat projection (vs last poll / vs 2021 on new boundaries); AMS Ideal seats:
SNP ~ 62 (-1 / -1); 43
Lab ~ 18 (-1 / -3); 23
RUK ~ 17 (-3 / +17); 23
Con ~ 12 (nc / -19); 15
Grn ~ 11 (+5 / +1); 13
LD ~ 9 (nc / +5); 11
(Projection caveats: ballotbox.scot/projections)
We're not even one full year into his second term
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
And the prize for the worst kept secret in recent Scottish politics goes to...
Malcolm Offord, for his appointment Reform UK's first Scottish leader
Right at the same time one of the worst kept secrets in British politics unravels. Robert Jenrick to defect to Reform? Who saw that one coming π
I found the full table with age breakdown below
Looks like a significant relationship between age and voting Plaid, and also for the Greens especially with 16-24-year-olds
For 16-24yo: 42% PC and 43% Green
Although small sub samples do mean higher margins of error!
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
"Britainβs First Past the Post electoral system is hopelessly ill-equipped to translate multiparty politics into a rational distribution of parliamentary seats," writes @rafaelbehr.bsky.social
FPTP means chaos. The only solution is Proportional Representation.
Our disastrous FPTP voting system strikes again. We need fair votes now
Also where is Shetland?!
First Past the Post wasn't working before. And it certainly won't be working when five parties are getting over 10% of the vote each.
We need Proportional Representation to fairly reflect our multi-party system
After giving up posting on the other place months ago, I've finally done the right thing and deleted my X/Twitter accounts
Keen to follow and grow a great Bluesky network of progressives, Liberals, electoral reform campaigners, Scottish democracy enthusiasts, and other interesting folk!
Hello π
