There is a referendum next Thursday on whether or not to reform the British Parliamentary Electoral system. Citizens of Britain will flock to the polls and be asked to simply tick one box - yes or no. The question is whether to introduce the Alternative Voting System to replace our current First Past the Post System. Currently, there is a lot of confusion swirling around the media about how the actual proposed AV system works. Propaganda from both the yes and the no camps is being posted through letterboxes and pasted to billboards nationwide. I aim to enlighten all the confused with an easy to understand and relatable example.
Imagine the British General Election is the X Factor (as a Political Science student that's a sentence I never thought I'd write), except with no Simon, Cheryl, Louis or Dani. Remove the judges from the whole equation. It is a very loose metaphor, but each contestant represents a political party. You've got your serious contenders, which split the population opinion enormously (the Conservatives, One Direction), the joke contestants which aim to hi-jack the whole process (the Monster Raving Looney Party, Wagner), the outdated parties which completely fail to relate to public opinion (BNP, Storm Lee), the annoying contestant which is hated by many (Labour, Katie Wassiel) and the up-start young contenders who like to drink, (Liberal Democrats, Aiden Grinshaw).
The X Factor effectively uses the Alternative Voting system. In the first week of the X Factor, everyone votes for who they want to win. The contestant with the lowest number of votes goes home. The next week, everyone that voted for that losing contestant in week 1 then votes again for their most favoured contestant still in the running, most other people will have already decided where their loyalties lie and will not stray from their original week 1 choice. Gradually, as voter's first choices drop out, they reassign their allegiance to another contestant. This process continues until a winner emerges. This the process of AV. The only real difference is that AV forces everyone to order their preferences for a winner at a fixed temporal point, rather than to phone premium rate lines every Saturday for what seems like 100's of weeks. The whole process just takes a lot less time and wouldn't work for TV; there'd only be one show as everyone would order their preferences in the first week. In turn, the process is halted as soon as one contestant gains over 50% of the votes, as it becomes impossible for another candidate to gain a majority and win. Simple.
So, why are we having this referendum? What's wrong with the current system?
Smaller parties, such as the Liberal Democrats, argue that the current system is unfair. They may have a point - at the last election 23% of the British population voted Liberal Democrat. Yet, the party only won 9% of seats in Parliament. This disproportionate ratio of vote share to seats restricts their ability to affect policy and act on their manifesto, when nearly a quarter of the population voted for them. This has been happening for years and a major policy of the Liberal Democrat party in the build up to last year's general election was, if elected, to fight for electoral reform. The fall out from a British political party actually following through on an election manifesto promise has thrown the British political scene into complete chaos. No-one quite knows how to react.
Metaphor time. The whole reason why we're having this referendum is similar to the situation in films when the geeky, yet strangely good looking guy with no social skills (Nick Clegg) helps the hot blonde with big tits (David Cameron) with her homework. She needs his support to graduate college and, being the social hermit that he is, he's just quite happy to spend time in the company of a girl. You know what I'm getting at here.
This referendum is a bit like the penultimate scene in that movie. He has been her puppy dog for a year, helping her with all her work and putting up with all her. As a small token of reward, she's invited him to the end of year graduation party at her pool house. She's a little embarrassed by the whole relationship but does has a soft spot for him. Her conventional social group at the party don't anticipate her seeing or spending a great amount with him, but after a few too many she might just surprise all and the geek might get the girl. She doesn't really want to, but we've all made drunken miscalculations. From his perspective, this is exactly why he's helped her for the last year. He thinks the iron is hot and he can go to this party and get the girl. He has high expectations and will be bitterly disappointed if the night fails to deliver, as he has sacrificed a lot over the last year to help this girl. He turned his back on the mathathletes and computer club and sold his friends out. He picked up her in the rain when her ex-boyfriend dumped her. He might get her, he might not.
This referendum decides whether the geek will get the girl. The British public will decide and either way, one of them will be disappointed. If he doesn't get the girl, he will question why he put up with her for a year and sold his soul, for no reward. If she sleeps with him she'll face endless mocking from her friends and questions about why she ever invited him in the first place.
Trying to sexualise a referendum is very difficult (sex sells right?) but this whole situation is equatable to the vote next week.
David Cameron and the Conservatives clearly don't want AV because it effectively renders their power invalid. So, if the yes vote emerges victorious, as Prime Minister, he will face serious questions from within his own party. In return for Liberal Democrat support on Conservative policy since May last year, David Cameron is rewarding Nick Clegg's loyalty by staging the referendum. The Liberal Democrats clearly want electoral reform. So, in a similar light to Cameron, Clegg faces serious questions if next Friday Britain still operates under a First Past the Post system and the no vote wins. Under AV the Liberal Democrats should win more seats and this referendum is really the product of Liberal Democrat power in Westminster. Additionally, it is well documented that the Liberal Democrats have sold their political soul in the last 12 months and supported the Conservatives on many controversial issues such as the Public Cuts and Student Fees, but the referendum on electoral reform is the one major policy which they have swindled out of the Conservatives as a result of their role in the coalition. But, if the AV is rejected by the British public, we may see a Liberal Democrat backbencher revolt against Clegg. He will have committed two cardinal political sins towards his party; loss of public popularity and failure to represent party interests.
It is (trust me) a very interesting debate and to add further confusion, the Labour Party has been completely split by the issue. Current polls by the Guardian and ICM suggest that a majority of 58% plan to oppose the reform.
To conclude though, this whole issue has given me an idea. We should elect our Parliament in an X Factor-style reality television show. Not only would this idea increase political participation and ensure voters knew how the system worked but it also provide great Saturday Night TV for 10 weeks every 4 years. If there was a referendum on that electoral system I have no doubt we'd see Vince Cable impersonating Elvis in no time.
Some song suggestions (click to listen):
- For the MPs caught in the expenses scandal: It Wasn't Me - Shaggy
- Nick Clegg & David Cameron: Come Together - The Beatles
- The Miliband Brothers: We Used to Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols
- Nick Griffin: Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
- The Green Party: Cunts are Still Running the World - Jarvis Cocker
- Gordon Brown: Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
No comments:
Post a Comment