@fatkudu
Dog owned, software engineer. Enjoy squash, cycling and walking. Interested in building a better society, active travel, levers for the green transition. Happy Brompton owner. Advocate of PR. Don't trust age verification process. If you DM me, I won't see
Our electoral system has led to voters up and down the country being ignored for decades - and now the system is breaking.
Our new report shows the direct link between First Past the Post and a possible Farage victory in 2029.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Co... - "Cleverly's elimination in the final MPs' ballot surprised many. It was speculated that some of Cleverly's supporters had voted for other candidates, presuming Cleverly would be safe, in order to pick an easier rival against him in the members' vote,"
Multi round voting can still lead to strange results, thinking in particular of the 2024 Tory leadership contest where it was reported that in 1 round there had been an attempt by some factions to eliminate the strongest opponent and they miscalculated and lost their preferred candidate instead.
"Ultimately voting systems should exist to reflect the will of the people. If they do not, is it rule of the people or rule by the system?"
Great letter in the Guardian by Hugo, a campaigner with Young Make Votes Matter 👏👏👏
"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." www.ft.com/content/38d8...
Great support for electoral reform and Proportional Representation in the letters im The Guardian.
Time is coming. Tide is turning. ⏰ 🌊
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
💥 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."
Pretty difficult to refute a single thing in this perfect assessment of where the f**k we are, from @iandunt.bsky.social:
During the Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill, MP after MP got up to point out what's missing from it: fixing the voting system.
The problems with FPTP can no longer be ignored - and neither can the growing calls for PR. 📣
Here are just a few highlights:
💬 Sarah Olney MP reminded the House that MPs had voted for her Proportional Representation Bill in December 2024.
❌ Inside and outside of Parliament, there is a growing acknowledgment that our voting system is not fit for purpose.
⏰ It's time to consider the alternatives.
What if you floated upwards 1 ft every second?
What the latest What If? video in collaboration with
@minuteearth.bsky.social!
youtu.be/oTzW-mTQd5w
1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health
Green MP Ellie Chowns on the elections bill last night: "It is really quite extraordinary that the Thailand-based crypto investor Christopher Harborne has been allowed to donate £9 million to Reform UK. I notice that its Members are still not here" (2/3rds of the way into the debate)
📜 The House of Commons just debated the Representation of the People Bill
💥 Great to see more Labour MPs joining the call for a National Commission on Electoral Reform
📺 @patrickhurley.bsky.social @catsmithmp.bsky.social @chriscurtis94.bsky.social & @jamesnaish.bsky.social
🌹 #Labour4PR
Today is the Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill.
It's an important bill - it's just a shame it does nothing to change the voting system that leaves millions of people without representation 👀
We went to Westminster to speak to MPs about this. Our CEO Emma Harrison explains 👇
and 2/3 of the mainstream who cared to give an opinion at the last election said they didn't wany Keir Starmer as their PM either...
"The Westminster system is crumbling. Labour must rebuild it – or we will find ourselves under the rubble."
✍️ Beccy Cooper MP & Tim Roca MP
🌹 #Labour4PR #ElectoralReform #Democracy
@drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social @timrocamp.bsky.social @politics.co.uk
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...
"If casting a vote starts to feel more like participating in a lottery than making a positive and principled decision, then voters are going to become ever more frustrated." First Past the Post can't handle multi-party politics. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gort...
Remind me, when you slaughter 85 young school children, are you the Good Guys?
it's not the issue of this story, but it is a transparent example of how the "cars are freedom" narrative is a complete farce. when the state controls your movement and can immobilize you on a whim, you are not free. car dependency is an arm of fascism for the car *IS* fascism and must be abolished.
"Make votes matter," said Westminster's newest MP Hannah Spencer at our Manchester rally last year.
"Our vote is a right and our vote should count!"
Regardless of who you backed in this race, this is a message we can all unite around 🫱🏽🫲🏻
But fundamentally, this shows why first past the post isn’t fit for purpose. If the government doesn’t introduce proportional voting, a far right party could win the next general election outright on a minority of the vote.
We saw that while the progressive majority was split, voters were willing to unite if given clear, independent evidence of which party was the tactical choice - we gave that advice, and made sure it reached them
Biggest learning to take away from the by-election by far.
This toxic behaviour from political parties damages trust in politicians and damages #democracy. If we had #alternativeVote for by-elections with #proportionalRepresentation for general elections, the incentives to mislead like this would be much smaller and parties could behave with integrity more
Lots of this nonsense from ALL for this by by-election. The main root cause is the use of #FPTP. That turns elections into a game so that voters have to guess the best way to get the least horrible result. If we used #AV combined with #PR for generals, people could just vote for what they want.
Viktor Orban is now 20 points behind in the polls - and so he has ordered the military to guard “key energy facilities” against a possible Ukrainian “attack.” Hungarians fear he plans a fake national security emergency or false-flag incident before the April 12 election
apnews.com/article/hung...
More evidence of what's wrong with #FPTP makevotesmatter.org.uk/campaign-upd... #ukDemocracy fail
And it seems rather unlikely he didn't know that - so, was this intended to "mislead" the public by any chance?
🌹 @annadixonmp.bsky.social flags some of the major risks First Past the Post now poses for the UK
⚠️ The govt's line that it has "no plans" to address this is not sustainable
🤝 It's welcome that Ministers will meet @appgfairelections.bsky.social to discuss a National Commission on Electoral Reform
