I keep hearing politicians on all sides telling us how the electorate "has spoken" and that they have heard what they said - then go on to demonstrate that they have completely ignored the voice of the people.
They keep telling us that it is clear the people want "electoral reform" - but the two parties offering electoral reform were the ones who lost seats! There is only one clear message from that and this is that the electorate don't want electoral reform - or if they do, they don't want this pathetic bunch deciding what sort of electoral reform we get.
The other thing they are claiming that this election means is that the people want the parties to "work together". How do they work this out? The last time we had a hung parliament we had two political parties who were pretty much diametrically opposed to one another - was the conclusion drawn from that that the people wanted them to work together?
I don't think so - the one thing it does demonstrate is that the people have no faith in any of the parties to steer the nation through the coming economic storm. It is not a vote in favour of "consensus politics" or electoral reform - it's a vote of no confidence in the political parties of Great Britain.
Politics has been totally discredited - and the people who run our politics (including the media) are unable to see this. Instead they are portraying it as a vindication of all that they hold dear - a conclusion which can only be reached if you are completely and utterly detached from the people.
It's a lesson in how to ignore the people and a lesson to us all that our politicians are now so firmly perched in their ivory towers that they do not have the slightest idea what the people want or think.
4 comments:
I'm very annoyed that Caroline Lucas, ecofascist, will be getting a salary of around £65000 a year plus expenses. Meanwhile, UKIP, a party with real policies and common sense solutions, are left out in the cold.
Unbelievable.
Good general view of the present load of corrupt, debauched flotsam that masquerades as politicians, Stan.
I'd like to see this election result as a vote of no confidence in the three major parties, but the vast majority of people who voted voted for the three major parties, instead of voting like me for an independent candidate. This was the electorate's first chance to get rid of the three major parties, and the electorate chose to vote for them instead. Very disappointing.
I wouldn't read too much into Caroline Lucas's election, Lightf00t - overall their share of the vote didn't change while UKIP's did actually go up slightly. More annoying for UKIP is the fact that they got more votes than the SNP, but the SNP are the ones with MPs.
I guess that's why UKIP voters are so in favour of PR - daft really, as it would mean they might get a few MPs, but they'd never ever be in a position to form a government.
bernard - the thing that annoys me more than anything is the way the BBC are pushing the "electoral reform" idea - as if that was something that mattered to people which it clearly didn't.
Senior - the vast majority of people always vote for the three main parties because there isn't that much choice. Mostly it's tribal, some of it is tactical (the bulk of votes for Lib Dems is tactical - Labour voters in Tory strongholds and conservative voters in Labour strongholds tend to vote Lib Dem as they are the only ones who might challenge the status quo.
Personally, I think the only thing you can construe from this result is that the electorate do not have faith in any of the parties to sort out the mess we're in - which, in my opinion, is a very astute and accurate assessment.
Whoever forms the next government would struggle even with a large majority - the scale of the problem is just so huge. Any coalition that is formed is going to have no chance. Whatever mix of government we end up with is unlikely to see out this year. In two to three years time, all three of the main parties will have been totally discredited - they will be nothing but empty shells of political parties.
We are on the verge of a whole new political system. What that system will consist of is not clear yet, but I'm pretty certain it will not be progressive liberal.
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