Gordon Brown’s deathbed conversion to the cause of electoral reform is surely one of the most cynical acts in modern British politics.
Don’t forget that Labour were elected in 1997 on a mandate to have a referendum on electoral reform, just as they were elected in 2005 on a mandate of a referendum on Lisbon. What was one of the major stumbling blocks to holding a referendum on the Jenkins Report? Why it was the steadfast opposition to reform of a certain Gordon Brown! Could this be the same man who yesterday embraced the cause of reforming the electoral system?
Brown’s conversion to reform is an act of unprincipled political desperation. He is looking to change the rules of the game because his team has fallen behind. This is the last throw of the dice by a desperate Prime Minister. It is not a serious case for political reform.
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Yes of course it’s cynical (the Tories should have seen it coming years ago)but it’s no more cynical than the Tories’ commitment to First Past The Post which disenfranchises most of the electorate. Proportional representation would in particular split the Tory Party whose left and right wing are now almost totally irreconcilable, with the Tory left Lib Dems in all but name. Cameron wants FPTP because he thinks that it enables him to maroon the Tory core by giving them no voting alternative. That is a shaky assumption anyway but it would be totally blown out of the water if there were PR.
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