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Euro Elections and the BNP
Jun. 8th, 2009 10:55 pmAfter the two Twitters earlier (see previous post), I've been kinda pondering... Something about the whole hysteria around the BNP getting seats on the EP makes me uneasy, and I need to think aloud....
Proportional Representation exists to ensure that the broad spectrum of the will of the people gets represented: in short, you get the-electorate-in-microcosm elected to be MEPs. If you believe that's better than first-past-the-post, you have to accept that this means you're going to disagree with the views that some of your elected representatives espouse. In some cases quite vehemently.
The process is not broken just because it elected the BNP. I've not yet heard anyone saying that, I don't think, but just in case, I thought i'd make the point. As it stands, it's not currently illegal for them to exist (otherwise, one assumes, they wouldn't be on the ballot paper), so therefore if they get enough votes to merit a share in the seats that are available, they get elected.
And a small part of me says 'good'.
No, I'm not endorsing them. Far from it. And no, I really don't want a couple of self-confessed white supremacist racists representing my country in Europe for the next five years.
But it means three things:
It means the PR system works. It means your vote counts. It means that a relatively small number of committed people can have a quite startling effect on politics.
Secondly, it also means that with this level of publicity, no-one should go into the next election under any illusions about who the BNP are and what they actually stand for, OR that their own vote makes no difference.
Thirdly, it means that the mainstream parties had damn well better figure out how to get their houses in order and regain the respect of the electorate, or next time it'll be worse.
6% of a 35% turnout was enough to get BNP a seat in at least one constituency: effectively that's 1 in 50 people. Given the average size of a group that a person knows as individuals? Each of us probably knows 2 or 3. We also probably know well over fifty people who didn't vote, if we but knew it, for whatever reason.
And you wonder why I say it EVERY DAMN ELECTION. Yes, I know the Parliamentary elections are first-past-the-post, and it's a lot harder to effect major change that way. But it does happen.
And before you ask... both Anne and I voted. For different parties, neither of which was the BNP.
Proportional Representation exists to ensure that the broad spectrum of the will of the people gets represented: in short, you get the-electorate-in-microcosm elected to be MEPs. If you believe that's better than first-past-the-post, you have to accept that this means you're going to disagree with the views that some of your elected representatives espouse. In some cases quite vehemently.
The process is not broken just because it elected the BNP. I've not yet heard anyone saying that, I don't think, but just in case, I thought i'd make the point. As it stands, it's not currently illegal for them to exist (otherwise, one assumes, they wouldn't be on the ballot paper), so therefore if they get enough votes to merit a share in the seats that are available, they get elected.
And a small part of me says 'good'.
No, I'm not endorsing them. Far from it. And no, I really don't want a couple of self-confessed white supremacist racists representing my country in Europe for the next five years.
But it means three things:
It means the PR system works. It means your vote counts. It means that a relatively small number of committed people can have a quite startling effect on politics.
Secondly, it also means that with this level of publicity, no-one should go into the next election under any illusions about who the BNP are and what they actually stand for, OR that their own vote makes no difference.
Thirdly, it means that the mainstream parties had damn well better figure out how to get their houses in order and regain the respect of the electorate, or next time it'll be worse.
6% of a 35% turnout was enough to get BNP a seat in at least one constituency: effectively that's 1 in 50 people. Given the average size of a group that a person knows as individuals? Each of us probably knows 2 or 3. We also probably know well over fifty people who didn't vote, if we but knew it, for whatever reason.
And you wonder why I say it EVERY DAMN ELECTION. Yes, I know the Parliamentary elections are first-past-the-post, and it's a lot harder to effect major change that way. But it does happen.
And before you ask... both Anne and I voted. For different parties, neither of which was the BNP.