[tongue in cheek] This is the first strong argument I've ever seen in favour of FPP. My point with the posters-on-lampposts is that that it shows that candidat

[tongue in cheek] This is the first strong argument I've ever seen in favour of FPP. My point with the posters-on-lampposts is that that it shows that candidates have to fight for thier seats. 'safe seats in Ireland' aren't as safe as 'safe seats in UK'. Which is good thing for democracy! I don't think it's a good thing to have political debate defined by political extremes flinging mud at each other, and PR tends towards that. And I don't like the constant trend towards politics being run by a distinct, professional political class. PR plays right into that. Counter-example: The UK. It has FPTP, and it has all those things! It has professional political class! It has politicans who sling mud. (Ireland, with PR, also has a professional political class, and mudslinging politicans BTW. Neither PR nor FPTP solve that).