Scared about a poll I read where Reform wins outright in First Past the Post????

@TheodoraCrumpeti said to myself I'd vote for the most left wing party standing in my area that responded to my request that they support the right of women to have single sex spaces. I wish the Communist Party of Britain was standing, they'd have got my vote.

I voted Tory for the first time ever. I really hope to never again. Why do good people think women don't matter?

My region is more than half reform at the last locals. I WANT to vote Labour (I don't believe any of them but Wes Streetling on this), Green, or Lib Dem, each of which I've voted for before, but I can't until they support the most basic of women's rights. Elizabeth Fry would be turning in her grave.

This is the second thread in a couple of days saying that we need proportional representation to defeat Reform. Yet proportional representation would have given Reform way more MPs than they currently have and would work in their favour.

They're the only party willing to even voice a willingness to tackle real problems such as mass unfetted immigration. And NO having issues with mass immigration, unregistered males with totally different cultural norms here, without qualifications and valuable contribution to society is NOT racist.

Nobody bar nobody (except actual racists) have a problem with foreign professionals coming here to work. It'd be utter madness to judge one professional against another based on country of origin.

The real problem that keeps getting diverted from by screeching "racist"(and successfully, by the way no other party dares broaches it with any gusto) is mass uncontrolled immigration by people that's way of life does not meet our cultural expectations, and are not contributing to our society but actively being a burden and a drain on it. People are fed up !

We're cow towing to tiny minorities (such as trans people ) and demanding the other 99% majority stick pronouns on their work emails and badges (it's work! That's crazy !) and that's not enough - men in toilets with young girls to #be kind. It's utter madness! And people are sick of being branded an 'ist' and have a conversation or debate instantly shut down.

Reform are the only party willing to talk "common sense" in the sea of madness that's currently out there. That's enough for many people to cling on to.

It's not even the groups in question that are the problem (e.g trans people - we used to all just rub along and accept this teeny tiny minority and let them leave in peace : Nadia winning big brother in the noughties anyone ?) a genuine transperson known of as a 'woman' who advertised freely she was 'transsexual' and was born male and remained biologically male. Nobody (unless a bigot) would have a problem with that! Nobody bloody did back then! But she wasn't shouting from her podium to make 99% of us change our everyday life to accommodate her. Institutions such as NHS and government are the ones trying so hard to get on the "right on" bandwagon they're the ones dictating on the 0.01%s loud minorities behalf ! And not listening to all the everyday people (that includes immigrants and LGBTQ people ) !

So people in conclusion have had enough and want to stop being silenced for fear of being persecuted and branded an 'ist. People are scared to say how they feel (and most of the time their thoughts are indeed rational )

It makes me aghast when you get those old gems flying around "oh so you don't mind Dr Raj, he's the right type of immigrant is he, you racist ?" Well.... actually yes!!!! Nobody does mind the 'right' type of immigrant and nobody gives a shit what their colour or creed is ! But people don't want 20 yr old males arriving on mass with zero to contribute.

No other party acknowledges normal people's normal concerns. The vote share proves this. And it's not all Wayne and Sharon smoking their roll ups with their man utd shirts on down the boozer with their tattooed arms out. Wake up !

It could be, yes.

Or you can have a hybrid system like Scotland.

I don't think people who vote Reform are bad but I don't think Reform is a good choice to vote for.

I mean, I'd even vote Tory to keep out a Reform candidate, that's how worried I am. Something I always swore I would never do. The constituency I live in is a fairly safe Conservative seat, and remains so in any projections, but my ward is full of Reform supporters. I can only hope the new Reform councils don't live up to the hopes of their constituents when the new councillors realise what local government actually involves.
Though it has to be said that Farage's piss poor performance as a Clacton MP doesn't seem to have made any difference. People want someone to make things better, and around here people are convinced that Farage is the man for the job. It chills me to the bone.

Why do think all reform supporters are bad? You've said yourself you don't any! I have a very politically mixed group of friends and family - all of them good people and most of them want the same outcome but just different ways of getting there.

You need to be open to having conversations with people and would bet you do know reform supporters they just haven't told you.

I think if things keep going the way they are we are going to end up with a Conservative/ Reform coalition at the next GE

Would that be by constituency? Because if so I retract my concern.

It's just like Brexit; a slow car crash and it's really going to fuck up the country.

Single Transferrable Vote for regions or constituencies avoids this concern.

I am concerned by the idea that under proportional representation, my representative isn't beholden to my area. I could vote for a party that then, once elected, says X area is shite, let it burn, and have no recourse until the next election.

If anyone has an answer to this please let me know, because I've always been a 'democracy first' sort of individual, but this concerns me.

This

There are multiple viable potential coalitions in there that would result in a government that reflects a broader base of voters than our current system does.

FPTP encourages broad parties. Everyone wrongly assumes we'd have exactly the same parties under PR. We wouldn't! They'd fragment in to other parties. So you may end up with something like this:

5% Monster Raving Loony
5% BNP
5% Revolutionary Workers Corbynite Party
7% Gaza Freedom Party
10% Libdem
13% Labour
15% Green
15% Tory
25% Reform

How is that going to lead to any form of stable, desireable government?

We need to stop equating reform voters=bad. It's getting old.

Oh yes, you are correct that a strong majority can be secured with a low percentage of all eligible (rather than cast) votes.

I know quite a few reform voters. I have family who live in the midlands and both them and many of their friends admit to being so with no shame. They are pensioners or nearly there and think Farage will bring the UK back to the good times. I’m very concerned about the next GE as I think if things stay as they are he’ll be in.

I'm in Ireland. As far as I know we haven't elected a single party government since the late 1970s. Most of our coalitions tend towards boring centrism and are not - 2008 excepted - characterised by instability. Proponents of FPTP say it leads to strong government. Too often it leads to charlatans like Johnson being given God like powers when most people voted against him. If he had had to assemble a coalition he wouldn't have made such a pig's ear out of Brexit , perhaps.

In the local elections or GE?

I'm not saying any party is above / better / worse than the other but proportional representation is a fairer way of doing it . Whichever party does it , then they are the favourite and rightly deserve to win .

Pretty much everyone in my street voted reform.
I did as there are no SDP candidates in my area ( they are my preferred party) and I did it as a protest to Labour. The Tory candidate looked about 12 and didn’t live locally.

PR is more likely to give coalitions, which I perceive (but don't have the stats) to be less stable than majority rule governments.
It also gives minor parties potentially more 'power' than they merit.
We had all this with the Lib Dems 'go back and prepare for government' etc.

I’m not the person who wrote this, but I guess what the person is referring to is that a very large % of people simply don’t vote. So say 50% don’t vote, then suddenly 20% of the adult population with the right to vote voting reform will equate to 40% of the votes cast, and there will be no catching them.

It’s like you often hear what a very low % Keir Starmer got - scarcely 20% of the popular vote.