My Little Green Vote

[TheDevil]

The Green vote has increased by more than 60% nationally.

Unfortunately that isn't represented by MP's as we're involved in an outdated voting system.

[Theland]

Nobody gives a hoot about the planet, if it interferes with business as usual, cars, planes, lots of consumption. Pay lip service to Greta Thorburg and Extinction Rebellion, it costs nothing.

[Rockrose]

Ok we know who you voted for.
Perhaps people are happy to get the country back on an even keel and look at putting more effort in to saving the planet

[TheDevil]

Hopefully when Brexit is over and done with then we can get back to more progressive political matters.

[Old_Geezer]

Just as well it isn't represented since clearly it first priority for few and interest diluted across the whole nation; and the last thing we need is another hamstrung hung parliament. Thank goodness for a true and tested system that minimises that risk.

[gollob]

Diane Abbott said Labour policies are for many and not just the shoe

[Theland]

Less hot air coming out of parliament is progress.

[margarettom]

If the Green vote was very low, then a 60% increase is still very low, so basically that's a fairly pointless statement.

[pixie374]

I think that because the Green Party are fairly one-trick, they actually did quite well, considering the one-trick this time was mostly about Brexit. They don't seem any real threat to any party though.

[Buenchico]

It has to be remembered that some of that 60% increase in votes comes from people who (like me) would have preferred to vote Lib Dem but who found that their preferred party wasn't fielding a candidate in their constituency, as they'd stood aside to prevent splitting the anti-Brexit vote.

[Palustris]

Trouble with Proportional representation is that it always results in hung Parliaments where forming a Gov't becomes a matter of weeks and a lot of horse trading. Then you end up with 3 General Elections in a year as in Israel.

[TheDevil]

Which is why the Green party wants to give more power on a council level.

[Jackdaw33]

Never mind the Green Party, I voted for the Blue Party, and we won!

[New Judge]

It isn't an outdated voting system. It's a tried and tested system that more often than not produces strong government. The alternative (which I assume you would propose some sort of proportional representation system) would produce an almost perpetual hung Parliament and the last two years has demonstrated clearly what that means).

If yesterday's election had been held under straightforward PR the result would have been as follows:

Conservatives: 283 seats (they actually got 365)
Labour: 209 (203)
LibDem: 75 (11)
SNP: 25 (48)
Green: 18 (1)
Brexit: 13 (0)
Others: 27 (22)

You can see that the chances of a stable Coalition being formed is very remote. The Conservatives would need to garner at least 43 votes from elsewhere and could probably not rely on continued support to that level. The Labour Party would need 117 votes every time they had a Commons division. The 45% of people who voted for the Conservatives might see their votes fail to provide stable government. The combinations are endless and the shenanigans of the last two years would be replicated incessantly.

You must also bear in mind that voters do not vote for a party or a Prime Minister; they vote for an individual to represent their constituency at Westminster.

The UK had an opportunity to change the voting system in a referendum in 2011 and voted 2:1 to reject the idea. The FPTP system is not perfect but no system is if it is to ensure that government can govern.