The Big Showdown
It’s going to be quite interesting watching the British election from the other side of the world. Here in New Zealand they view our electoral system as a bit of a throwback to the dark ages. In the early nineties they moved into the age of proportional representation here and for the most part it’s been a tremendous success. Of course the big parties haven’t liked it too much; in the current parliament the ruling Labour party has had to pander to the desires of the Greens to keep their legislation on-track, and the main opposition National party has lost a lot of ground to smaller newcomers with trendy names like ‘United Future’.
But it’s all good for the voter; with a coalition pretty much a certainty minority parties get a hand in and are no longer a ‘wasted vote’. Instead of one party getting to do whatever they want, they have to negotiate for votes; if something’s a bad idea it simply won’t fly, no matter how keen the government is on it. The Greens have managed to sustain New Zealand’s proud ‘GE Free’ (aka GM Free) status as well as their historic Nuclear-free status, and the public are right behind them.
Anyway, back in Blighty you look set for a classic two horse race with Tony’s cronies the firm favourite. How insanely boring. Watching these slimy idiots bicker about the pithy differences between their policies is a waste of time. When push comes to shove they never keep their word anyway. The best thing for British democracy right now would be a hung parliament and a coalition government. That way they have to behave.
Charles Kennedy might not have much chance of making it to number 10 but I’d love to see him being a complete pain in Tony’s backside. That would be priceless, and highly effective.
