{"id":1349,"date":"2015-05-14T14:30:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T13:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/?p=1349"},"modified":"2018-07-14T17:17:53","modified_gmt":"2018-07-14T16:17:53","slug":"i-should-be-laughing-but-im-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/i-should-be-laughing-but-im-not","title":{"rendered":"I Should Be Laughing, But I\u2019m Not"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Election 2015 \u2013 A Wake-Up Call For Democracy<\/h2>\n
\"General
Potential democracy in action. I might not like the fact that some form of PR would give parties I don’t necessarily agree with a larger representation in Parliament – but that’s just tough, because anything other than fair representation for all is undemocratic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what about UKIP \u2013 the crackpot party us \u2018lefties\u2019 love to hate and trade insults with over social media? There\u2019s not much of their core policies I agree with, and their mainstream policies pretty much drift into the same territory as policies other parties I\u2019m more in tune with display. So there I was, the day after the night before, watching the election results come in, wondering what seats the \u2018UKIPpers\u2019 would win, ready to laugh at any losses they might sustain.<\/p>\n

But then it hit me \u2013 in nothing less than jaw dropping<\/strong> style, having learned that Nigel Farage\u2019s party had gained 13% of votes cast<\/strong>, with just ONE seat won!<\/strong> This was no longer a laughing matter, but a serious, sobering error<\/strong> in democracy.<\/p>\n

Although not a UKIP supporter<\/strong>, as far as I was concerned, this was the undeniable final nail in the coffin for FPTP<\/strong> politics. Love him or hate him, Farage had worked hard<\/strong> to promote his party, gained the third highest share of the vote<\/strong>, yet was denied<\/strong> anything like the representation<\/strong> of his voter\u2019s views in parliament. To be perfectly honest, I actually felt sorry for Nigel Farage<\/strong> and his supporters – they\u2019d been robbed<\/strong>. With the SNP gaining 56 seats on 5% of the vote<\/strong> the figures were certainly turning out to be a travesty, the mouldy icing on the cake being yet another thirty-something percentage \u2018majority\u2019 government<\/strong> \u2013 a lot like the 2005 victory Labour took.<\/p>\n

With 63% of voters not voting for the party that got \u2018first past the post\u2019<\/strong>, this was actually a General Election nobody won<\/strong>, the biggest loser<\/strong> being democracy<\/strong> itself. In a fit of disgust, I immediately joined the campaign for electoral reform<\/a> as a paid-up member, never having felt so politically infuriated \u2013 not even during the Thatcher years. This was a new level of anger, driven by the injustice of a broken electoral system<\/strong> fit for the Tories and Whigs of three centuries gone.<\/p>\n

Just for the record, if anybody hadn\u2019t noticed, the 2-party political landscape of the 20th century is over<\/strong>, along with the dinosaur<\/strong> structure used to allocate seats in parliament. The time for change<\/strong> is NOW!<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do we remove a broken electoral system<\/strong> not representing the people who participate in what is now a pseudo-democracy<\/strong>, where minority support governments can win<\/strong> the right to govern without capturing the majority of votes cast? For me, the issue is clear:<\/p>\n

Cross-party consensus on action for electoral reform.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now is the time<\/strong> when we have to put our political differences aside<\/strong> and unite as one body<\/strong> to challenge the political establishment<\/strong> on this issue. We have to stop trading insults<\/strong> over Twitter and stand together<\/strong> for our right to a fairer electoral system<\/strong> \u2013 even if it means other parties we don\u2019t agree with win their fair share of representation in parliament<\/strong>. I\u2019m prepared to drop my \u2018lefty-liberal\u2019 antagonism for the greater good<\/strong> \u2013 democracy<\/strong> – because without it, we are all losers. The issue at stake is bigger than divisive party politics<\/strong>. If that means me standing shoulder to shoulder with \u2018UKIPpers\u2019 to force change<\/strong>, then so be it. The Green Party are already making tentative steps in this direction because it\u2019s the same raw deal<\/strong> for them. I hope other parties who feel strongly about the need for electoral reform<\/strong> will also stand up and be counted on this principle. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about fairness<\/strong> and if UKIP have won a portion of the vote indicating they should gain more seats in parliament than people of my political leanings would like, then it\u2019s tough, because that\u2019s REAL democracy in action<\/strong>. In the end, it benefits<\/strong> us ALL<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We can go back to party politics after we\u2019ve won the battle for reform, knowing we\u2019ve achieved a better platform for the British electoral system<\/strong> to flourish under. If we carry on bickering over the social media fence, the 37% \u2018majority\u2019 governments will just sit back laughing at us<\/strong>, knowing that they can leave us to fight amongst ourselves, whilst they head for another minority vote victory in 5 years time – and that\u2019s not democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

General Election 2015 \u2013 A Wake-Up Call For Democracy So what about UKIP \u2013 the crackpot party us \u2018lefties\u2019 love to hate and trade insults with over social media? There\u2019s not much of their core policies I agree with, and their mainstream policies pretty much drift into the same territory as policies other parties I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[144,141,127,138,126,137,129,143,128,139,125,140,130,135,132,134,131,136,133,142],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}