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Britannist · 26-05-2007, 01:37 PM

I can't see what appeal the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system has.

For a start it's the voting system the extreme europhile Liberal Dims claim to support - which means that it cannot possibly be a good thing.

Just for those not familiar with STV - if it were used for UK General Elections it means the existing parliamentary constituencies would be abolished and replaced by mega-sized seats with up to a million voters in each constituency.

Each of these mega-sized constituencies would have between 4 and 8 members of Parliament.

The link between MP and moderately-sized single member constituencies which we have now would be gone.

Voters would be submerged into huge constituencies (i.e. Sussex, for instance, could form just one Parliamentary seat) and would be left with a confusingly large number of MPs claiming to represent their constituency.
The chances of one (or even two) parties forming a Government would be small. There would have to be multi-party coalitions which would not last long. General Elections might be held every couple of years or so.

STV must never be allowed to come into use in our country.

It is just about the worst proportional voting system going.

And that's really saying something.

26-05-2007, 01:37 PM	#20 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 22,896	Single transferable vote explained I can't see what appeal the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system has. For a start it's the voting system the extreme europhile Liberal Dims claim to support - which means that it cannot possibly be a good thing. Just for those not familiar with STV - if it were used for UK General Elections it means the existing parliamentary constituencies would be abolished and replaced by mega-sized seats with up to a million voters in each constituency. Each of these mega-sized constituencies would have between 4 and 8 members of Parliament. The link between MP and moderately-sized single member constituencies which we have now would be gone. Voters would be submerged into huge constituencies (i.e. Sussex, for instance, could form just one Parliamentary seat) and would be left with a confusingly large number of MPs claiming to represent their constituency. The chances of one (or even two) parties forming a Government would be small. There would have to be multi-party coalitions which would not last long. General Elections might be held every couple of years or so. STV must never be allowed to come into use in our country. It is just about the worst proportional voting system going. And that's really saying something.