Who will I vote for this year? I don’t know, to be frank. The frustration is that the system doesn’t work. By which I don’t write off democracy – but rather our current mess of a constitution. First in the dock is an electoral system rigged ludicrously in favour of the two main parties – Labour currently have 55% of the seats with just 35% of the votes (it’s actually less than a quarter of the population if we factor in those who chose to stay at home); indeed, in theory under the current FPTP system, a competitor could have 49.9% of the national vote and still not take a single seat. To have a seat any individual or party must actually win an outright victory in one area of the country, something very unlikely to happen for an outsider given the funds, profile and insider status of the main party machines. Yes it gives strong government, yes it prevents extremists – but it also leaves a bored, stay-at-home populous wishing they had a real choice, or someone who speaks for them with a chance of getting their voice heard. Do we really celebrate for its strength a system that thus provided the massive majority allowing Labour to spend the entire country’s life savings on bullets and bankers, unhindered by such a thing as effective opposition? Someone within their own ranks might have said a little more, were not the government-controlled party whips in control of their future career prospects and, thus, salaries.
Even more fundamentally, there is the schizophrenia of the fact I will be placing a vote for a local representative charged with attending Westminster on my behalf, when in fact every part of the machine (the parties, the media, the analysis) informs me I’m participating in a Presidential election between Brown and Cameron (and perhaps Clegg, at a stretch). The anachronism of this is best represented by the fact Brown was able to sneak into power via an uncontested leadership contest shortly after election time; an ascension no more approved by the people than was that of the Queen. Technically it doesn’t matter – we don’t choose our Prime Minister anyway, just a local MP from whom will be drawn the ‘first among equals’. But that’s nonsense and we all know it.
So here’s my dilemma. I don’t want Brown to win. He’s a deluded control-freak looking out only for his own survival, at odds with his party and responsible for seriously endangering our future standing as a nation. Yet I very much like my local Labour MP Sadiq Khan. He has integrity, a knowledge and passion for the local area, great communication and real ability. Do I choose my best representative and get counted as a Brownite? Or do I jettison the best man for Tooting in my desire to topple the President? I’ll let you know what I eventually decide…
Link to Electoral Reform Society
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