2 ms·

The problem, of course, is that any party that gets into power gets in via the existing system, and asking them to change it is like asking someone to train the

The problem, of course, is that any party that gets into power gets in via the existing system, and asking them to change it is like asking someone to train their replacement and fire themselves. Indeed. But Labour might be facing an electoral wipe out next time anyway like the Tories last year. Even if they do a decent job they're starting from such a bad position that it will be tough to rebuild enough public support for another election victory. Unfortunately that becomes tougher if they actually try to fix some of our long-term problems by doing sensible things that won't pay off in time for the next election. If they realise that their current strategy of giving the vote to 16 and 17 year olds isn't going to be enough to stay in power and Reform (populist right-wingers) look like they're going to win big instead then there will be a lot of soul searching going on at Labour HQ. Making a change that will at least see them avoiding the fate of the Tories last time might be a bit more palatable for them even if it would still be a bitter pill to swallow for the many Labour MPs who were going to lose their positions either way.

Nursie 1y ago
I very much agree, but I wonder how politically possible it would be, especially not having gone into an election with that on the manifesto. Can but hope I suppose, perhaps when they're staring down the barrel of a Farage government... but I'm not seeing it.
- Silhouette 1y ago
  They have a huge majority of MPs of their own, the likely support of almost every MP from the smaller parties, and the Parliament Acts. If they wanted to force through some form of PR in a few years then the only things that could stop them would be a government-ending rebellion by Labour MPs (which seems unlikely - if they're still in trouble then many of those MPs might have a better chance of keeping their positions under the new system) and time (the Lords could delay the change until after another election if the process wasn't started soon enough). It's not a manifesto policy but then they're probably going to implement a lot of things that aren't manifesto policies between now and then. At least this one would have cross-party support in Parliament and probably broad public support as well.

Nursie 1y ago

I very much agree, but I wonder how politically possible it would be, especially not having gone into an election with that on the manifesto. Can but hope I suppose, perhaps when they're staring down the barrel of a Farage government... but I'm not seeing it.

Silhouette 1y ago
They have a huge majority of MPs of their own, the likely support of almost every MP from the smaller parties, and the Parliament Acts. If they wanted to force through some form of PR in a few years then the only things that could stop them would be a government-ending rebellion by Labour MPs (which seems unlikely - if they're still in trouble then many of those MPs might have a better chance of keeping their positions under the new system) and time (the Lords could delay the change until after another election if the process wasn't started soon enough). It's not a manifesto policy but then they're probably going to implement a lot of things that aren't manifesto policies between now and then. At least this one would have cross-party support in Parliament and probably broad public support as well.