By-elections

[El Cid 218]

Should there by new elections when councillors/MPs change parties?

 

In national politics, people vote for the party or the manifesto of that party, so perhaps there is a strong reason for a by-election.

A by-election can cost up to £300,000 sometimes with a low turnout, is the cost a factor?

 

We already face the prospect of a by-election in the case of the MP for Peterborough after she was sent to jail for 3 months.

 

If we take cost into account, then we could say a by-election should be run every time.

[Top Cats Hat 10]

10 minutes ago, El Cid said:

We already face the prospect of a by-election in the case of the MP for Peterborough after she was sent to jail for 3 months.

Are you sure? I'm fairly certain that she said that she was staying on as an independant.

 

 

[geared 311]

1 minute ago, Top Cats Hat said:

Are you sure? I'm fairly certain that she said that she was staying on as an independant.

 

 

 

She doesn't wanna give up her seat but Labour are going to try and force a by-election, to be fair she doesn't deserve to be an MP and clearly will do absolutely nothing if she remains.

[Top Cats Hat 10]

4 minutes ago, geared said:

 

She doesn't wanna give up her seat but Labour are going to try and force a by-election, to be fair she doesn't deserve to be an MP and clearly will do absolutely nothing if she remains.

I think that they could only do this if they can organise a petition of recall and get the support of 10% of the electorate like was done with Ian Paisley Jr in North Antrim.

[El Cid 218]

1 minute ago, Top Cats Hat said:

I think that they could only do this if they can organise a petition of recall and get the support of 10% of the electorate like was done with Ian Paisley Jr in North Antrim.

Her appeal and the appeal from the Home Office has to be resolved first. People have complained to the Home Office that her sentence is too lenient 

[Obelix 11]

31 minutes ago, El Cid said:

Should there by new elections when councillors/MPs change parties?

 

In national politics, people vote for the party or the manifesto of that party [....]

 

No because that's not who they vote for. They vote for a person. Not a party.

 

We shouldnt be having by elections because some people are too foolish to realise this fact.

[bendix 10]

39 minutes ago, El Cid said:

 

 

In national politics, people vote for the party or the manifesto of that party, so perhaps there is a strong reason for a by-election.

 

No.  No they don't.  If that was the case there would be no need to have the candidate's name on the ballot paper, and you could just vote Labour or Tory and if they won they could put any old tom dick and harriet to represent you, with you having no say in it whatsoever.

 

We have a representative democracy.  We vote for MPs.  That they are aligned to parties is a secondary consideration.

[El Cid 218]

19 minutes ago, Obelix said:

No because that's not who they vote for. They vote for a person. Not a party.

 

We shouldnt be having by elections because some people are too foolish to realise this fact.

I do not vote for the person, because that would be daft. My local area changed from Labour to Conservative, because more people voted for that party.

At a local level, I vote more for the person and less for the party.

[L00b 441]

Just now, El Cid said:

I do not vote for the person, because that would be daft. My local area changed from Labour to Conservative, because more people voted for that party.

Which is dafter?

 

Voting for the party in ignorance of the fact that it is the candidate whom you are electing?

 

Or voting for the party irrespective of the personal qualities and beliefs of the candidate?

 

You have wonderful tools called the Internet and 'howdidtheyvote'. Untold numbers of people sufferred and died in the past, so you could vote. You and every other voter owe it to yourselves, to inform your vote, before picking a rosette instead of the donkey. If enough of you did that, often enough, I daresay the FPTP system may well long be a thing of the past, and UKIP wouldn't have got a single MEP, ever.

 

As it were, as a body of voters you're demonstrably still not. So the Labour vs Tories of auld continues on the back of the FPTP, and recently it's brought you the whole Brexit saga (which continues to this day, in the way it's continuing, because of FPTP and the bipartisan tribalism which it incentivises).

[bendix 10]

22 minutes ago, El Cid said:

I do not vote for the person, because that would be daft. My local area changed from Labour to Conservative, because more people voted for that party.

At a local level, I vote more for the person and less for the party.

What you set out to do, and what are actually did legally and constitutionally, are not always the same.   😉

 

The fact is, you are represented in the Houses of Parliament by your MP, NOT your political party allegiance.

 

Other

[geared 311]

1 hour ago, Top Cats Hat said:

I think that they could only do this if they can organise a petition of recall and get the support of 10% of the electorate like was done with Ian Paisley Jr in North Antrim.

Yes they've already indicated they intend to do this when her appeal process is complete.

[Top Cats Hat 10]

5 minutes ago, geared said:

Yes they've already indicated they intend to do this when her appeal process is complete.

In that case she's toast. 

 

Paisley Jr only survived because North Antrim would vote for Jimmy Saville if he wore an orange sash.