Not sure. There are enough bigots, Daily Mail sheeple and Europhobes out there to also mean "Hello BNP and UKIP". In a small way, but there, none the less. The far right in Europe has benefited from PR in this way. Except in Austria, where it's the norm.

Not necessarily GJ........there are different types of PR which would reflect the surge towards the Lib-Dem ideal (I think STV would demonstrate this). I have a great Lib M.P. where I live who I think is there by merit. Simon Hughes, as you're asking

p.s. and if your theory proves to be correct, I believe it shows the measure of the party....to support a system that could potentially destroy them....you can't get more pragmatic than that!

I can! The pragmaticness is terrific!

Its an interesting subject, on the one hand the current system is unrepresentative - it gives all the power to one party, however small its majority might be. For instance, only a quarter of those eligible voted for Labour at the last general election. As it is, many MPs are elected to Parliament despite 75 per cent of their constituency voting against them. But on the other hand the coalition governments that PR tends to produce are often weak and indecisive. Italy, which has such a system, has had to dissolve its parliament seven times in the last 40 years. Certainly gives us plenty to think about.

As voters in a potential three way seat (We don't go in for that UKIP BNP nonsense in the pragmatic top right) we could, according to a previous poster elsewhere, quite easily vote in a Tory with a very small majority and then have him removed and replaced with some LibDem lightweight.

It's only a two-horse race in my neck of the woods - we don't do Tory here

Well I'm hoping that we don't either. We don't normally but you never know. I used the Tory example just to show how balanced I am.

At present the most likely result is that by votes cast, Conservatives will be first, Lib Dems second, and Labour third, but by seats won, Labour will be first, Conservatives second, and Lib Dems a distant third. However Labour would not have an outright majority and we would have a hung parliament. So Labour would have first go at forming a government and would obviously try to form a coalition with the Lib Dems. However Nick Clegg has already made it clear that he is not prepared to accept a coalition with Gordon Brown as prime minister. Therefore Gordon Brown gives Nick Clegg that position, or resigns as leader of the Labour party to make way for a new leader - this would cause a significant delay in forming a governerment while there was a leadership battle, or finds that he is unable to form a government with overall majority. If he attempted to carry on in power, the country could well sink into an economic crisis far worse than what we have been experiencing. So he would then tell the Queen that he was unable to form a government, and the Queen would then turn to David Cameron to see if he could form a coalition.
We do not know yet whether Nick Clegg would be prepared to form a coalition with David Cameron as prime minister. On the assumption that he was, then his power would be such that he and several of his fellow MPs could insist of holding a significant number of senior ministerial positions.

However there is one big problem. Nick Clegg is unlikely to accept a coalition with either Labour or Conservative without them agreeing a change in the electoral system. The Liberal manifesto shows that their preferred system of proprtional representation is that of the single transferable vote between candidates. It does not go into detail as to how this would actually work.

However it is clear that in all probability this country's electoral system will be changed significantly or this country faces a period of substantial economic problems.

Ah well! It's the end of Party Politics...and GOOD. There are some sound and (relatively) incorruptable bods in all the main parties (I don't even consider BNP, or even UKIP to be about politics).
I am a socialist (and understand Marxism), but ever since I worked as an economic advisor to the Labour Party while they were re-branding as New Labour I feel violent every time I see Ali Campbell or Lord Mandy. Saint Vince Cable calms me no end.

Speaking of Lord Mandy (as suzybean was) I find it fascinating watching him scramble about attempting to launch the good ship Milliband 

Not nec. so. (Modern) Germany has had many such scenarios (managed to absorb the Demacratic Republic, and be in the Euro zone) and still remained an economic power house. Greece are giving the Euro zone some flack atm, but Germany will remain sound. Garage Joe is our regular German correspondent, he'll know more.

 **Does a little dance around the Forum**

Which one? The Gap-Year Foreign Sec. or the Gap-Year Sec. of State for Energy.

Zu befehl Suzy!

**clicks heels**

Just taken from the BBC Live Election coverage website:

1. 1132: Nick Clegg says he would be prepared to work with a "man from the moon" to deliver his objectives. But one would assume, not if the man from the moon got the most seats, but not the most vote..

Wanted, a man from the moon to stand for parliament!

That'll be the (elder?) one David, who supposedly Hilary Clinton keeps making sheep's eyes at

I don't think that's necessarily beyond the bounds of possibility considering we have a Communist Party candidate standing in our sleepy neck of the woods, I hope he wasn't counting on getting his deposit back.

 

 

Get a room, for gawd's sake..

Same here.....only we don't do Labour

 Although to be honest, at the moment I don't really 'do' any of them..

neither do I

Ditto Deman......that expenses scandal did us all a favour. The majority of politically motivated people are just a shower of crooks.

Well to quote from 2 movies I am still a 'cock-eyed optimist' and still believe 'there's got to be something better than this', there again I am a glass-half-full kind of person.

May I disagree? I accuse the powers that be and their pals in the press of highlighting this small event in order to make people look the other way thus avoiding a much much larger scandal.

Of course you may. What's that? The economy, futile wars and conflicts? I agree with either. I still think the Gentleman's Club/Teamster/Mafia nature of Parliament needed a good shake up. I'm sure if the Telegraph had realised how many of the landed gentry were on the dodge as well as the upstart former union barons, they would have left the hornet's nest well alone.

I was thinking of the non-dom, tax avoidance, and banking end of the spectrum. Sorry to be so slow. I'm mainly in the garden today.

How true, suzybean
GJ, how do you manage to be 'mainly in the garden'? Are you that big, or just stretchy?

I'm sure I have mentioned before that I haven't had any complaints (Ta for the feedline)

I've been weeding, pruning, mowing the lawn, reading the other parts of the S. Times, and drinking tea.

.... I get most of my best ideas when I'm gardening.

Gardening's very therapeutic
I neglected my garden last year because I wasn't well enough to tackle it, but I fancy getting back up to my elbows in earthworms now the weather is improving.

Lots of different insects this year. Looking good.

Ah! The nom-doms days are numbered. Accountants/Fianance bods forget that because they have been offering more and more sophisticated services and tax avoidance schemes to their clients, regular (non-financial) people have therefore become more sophisticated in their understanding of how the money markets work. When more people 'get' stuff, more people can hold them accountable. I mean the disregard, cynicism, and sheer bloody cheek of the likes of Madoff, Lehman, and now Goldman are mind-boggling. Lord Ashcroft etc. are under the spotlight now. I think the M.P.'s expenses issue was all part of the same issue anyway.
I paid my nephew £30 to sort out my garden, and he did a really great job so I tipped him another tenner.

What are you trying to do? You'll ruin the market?

It was well above the minimum wage!

 But the ants have already invaded my kitchen