Monday 30 April 2007

What "Representation"?

On Thursday, Scotland will conduct her first local government elections using the Single Transferrable Vote instead of First Past The Post. Some rural wards are larger than some European states.

Nothing could better illustrate the urban bias of those who advocate "Proportional" "Representation" either for local government or for Parliament, since a similar situation would apply in much of County Durham, and in almost all of Northumberland, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, among many other parts of the country. And just imagine how large parliamentary constituencies would have to be.

Councillors, and MPs at weekends, would never do anything except drive around their vast patches, arriving late for everything, and leaving everything early. Let them have STV for councils in urban areas if they want it, just as they currently have the almost equally bizarre system of annual elections. But leave us our First Past The Post, every four years.

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