If this happens then the Conservatives will undoubtedly win the next election (presumably in 2020) - unless.......
Unless we can get proportional representation. This could be achieved if all non-Conservative parties (including Lib Dems, SNP, Greens, UKIP and both Labour and SDP2) subscribed to an electoral pact to stand a single pro-reform candidate in each constituency, with a view to passing legislation to introduce proportional representation and then dissolve Parliament and fight new elections as separate parties. Negotiations about who stands down in which constituency would be tricky, but it should be possible, based on giving a free run to the candidate best placed to beat the Conservatives.
Is all this possible? The LibDems, Greens and the SNP all support PR, and I think UKIP (with one MP for 4 million votes) probably would too. So what of Labour (and SDP2)?
Not many people will remember that Labour won the 1997 election with a commitment to hold a referendum on PR, but this was blocked by northern and Scottish Labour MPs who believed (correctly) that some of them would lose their seats under a fairer system (Ironically, in Scotland they lost them because of the FPTP system). Perhaps in the changed circumstances, they might think they have nothing to lose from backing PR.
I realise that the idea of co-operating with the LibDems, let alone UKIP, in an electoral pact will be anathema to many comrades, but if the alternative is another decade of right wing Tory rule, isn't it worth considering?
I would be interested to know whether there is support for this idea, and if so, how best to get it on the agenda of the leaders of the various parties.
Unless we can get proportional representation. This could be achieved if all non-Conservative parties (including Lib Dems, SNP, Greens, UKIP and both Labour and SDP2) subscribed to an electoral pact to stand a single pro-reform candidate in each constituency, with a view to passing legislation to introduce proportional representation and then dissolve Parliament and fight new elections as separate parties. Negotiations about who stands down in which constituency would be tricky, but it should be possible, based on giving a free run to the candidate best placed to beat the Conservatives.
Is all this possible? The LibDems, Greens and the SNP all support PR, and I think UKIP (with one MP for 4 million votes) probably would too. So what of Labour (and SDP2)?
Not many people will remember that Labour won the 1997 election with a commitment to hold a referendum on PR, but this was blocked by northern and Scottish Labour MPs who believed (correctly) that some of them would lose their seats under a fairer system (Ironically, in Scotland they lost them because of the FPTP system). Perhaps in the changed circumstances, they might think they have nothing to lose from backing PR.
I realise that the idea of co-operating with the LibDems, let alone UKIP, in an electoral pact will be anathema to many comrades, but if the alternative is another decade of right wing Tory rule, isn't it worth considering?
I would be interested to know whether there is support for this idea, and if so, how best to get it on the agenda of the leaders of the various parties.
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