Before the main substance of this post, just to mention that Betty - who talks to a load of people in the village - thought my leaflet was good! Mind you she'd not had a leaflet from anyone else to compare it with!
Which rather takes me to today and to meeting my Labour opponent. And doing so during what was by far the best canvass of the campaign so far - found just one Labour voter, a few 'won't say' (which I put down as against) and plenty of Conservatives. Met some old friends who'd already given me 'two ticks' in their postal votes and a woman who wouldn't say how she voted but wished me 'very good luck'!
Plus the Labour candidate plodding up the street delivering his leaflet - wearing a purple hat. Good to see some opposition - not something we've had in Bingley Rural since the end of the 1990s. At least it stops me getting asked whether anyone else was standing this year!
Finally, it's very clear that older voters see no reason to change the way we pick MPs. After all, the current system has served us pretty well for the past hundred years and more! In terms of the arguments - the real ones rather than the endless ad hom nonsense from folk like Chris Huhne - the only 'yes' argument with any purchase is the idea of an MP needing 50% or more. But even then people are unsure whether AV actually delivers this in reality.
Expecting Bingley Rural to vote solidly 'no' on Thursday.
....
1 comment:
...the current system has served us pretty well for the past hundred years and more!
It has? Each time you have several MPs, some of them fairly famous and others downright notorious, who owe their positions to quite small fractions of voter support because a majority of the electorate don't even vote. There were 62 such MPs in 2001 and 38 in 2005 - probably fewer since last year's election and it's modest increase in turnout, but I haven't checked. To be sure AV will not actually fix this - I doubt one single reform can deal with all the problems and feel that several are needed to deal with the UK's democratic deficit - but all the same, it's not what I'd call 'serving us well'.
Post a Comment