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Britannist · 15-05-2007, 12:37 PM

The only element of PR (proportional voting) they will allow is a system in which it is difficult for UKIP to win under.

The particular type of PR voting used at the last EU Election is almost ideal for a party with its vote spread out across the country like UKIP to benefit from.

The europhile political 'elite' in this country will do what they can to stop such a voting system being used at a General Election.

The thought of an anti-EU party winning lots of seats in the Commons is just too much for most of the political establishment to bear.

Incidentally, the last time proportional voting was debated at an annual conference of UKIP (a couple of years ago I think it was) - the proposal to support PR was defeated convincingly.

UKIPs aim should be to win under the current General Election voting system. For one thing is certain - if we used PR voting now for General Elections and UKIP was starting to make big gains, the very first thing the europhile political establishment would do is change it all straight back to first-past-the-post-voting (the system we use now at General Elections).

Which is exactly what Mitterand (former President of France) did. He brought in PR for national elections - but changed it back to a voting system similar to ours when he got worried at how well small parties were doing in elections held under PR.

15-05-2007, 12:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 22,896	UKIP, proportional voting, anti-EU, House of Commons The only element of PR (proportional voting) they will allow is a system in which it is difficult for UKIP to win under. The particular type of PR voting used at the last EU Election is almost ideal for a party with its vote spread out across the country like UKIP to benefit from. The europhile political 'elite' in this country will do what they can to stop such a voting system being used at a General Election. The thought of an anti-EU party winning lots of seats in the Commons is just too much for most of the political establishment to bear. Incidentally, the last time proportional voting was debated at an annual conference of UKIP (a couple of years ago I think it was) - the proposal to support PR was defeated convincingly. UKIPs aim should be to win under the current General Election voting system. For one thing is certain - if we used PR voting now for General Elections and UKIP was starting to make big gains, the very first thing the europhile political establishment would do is change it all straight back to first-past-the-post-voting (the system we use now at General Elections). Which is exactly what Mitterand (former President of France) did. He brought in PR for national elections - but changed it back to a voting system similar to ours when he got worried at how well small parties were doing in elections held under PR.