Left-wing voters, what is your most right wing belief, and right wing voters what is your most left wing belief?

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I’m on nights and fancy something to read.

Thanks

I'm a lefty but I believe it's ok to be rich and I have no issue with champagne socialism. You can have money and morals

I'm no fan of Maggie Chapman (silly woman) but there are upsides and downsides to any electoral system. Our current one wildly underrepresents Reform voters (I hate Reform, but unfair is unfair).

Beyond that though, I don't think the electoral system is our problem. I think we're a declining ex-colonial power in a broader European context of strong economic decline; China is eating everyone's lunch; we're in a demographic spiral of fewer and fewer productive taxpayers and more and more dependents (mostly older people); and we've cut ourselves off from our closest trading bloc, imposing stupid costs and difficulties on businesses of all kinds (sorry to bring up Brexit, but there you go). We don't have enough money to sustain the standard of living we expect, and we aren't prepared to do the things we need to do (mass immigration, relaxing planning restrictions, rejoining the EU) that we need to do get economic growth.

Oh and the US President, on whom we have always relied for national security, is a dangerous fucking lunatic.

Electoral system ain't gonna fix any of that.

@Lovelyview I hear what you are saying about how it is a negative not feeling like you can get rid of an individual “list” MP (although I would argue you could be equally stuck with a local MP if you lived in an area that a safe seat). However, I wouldn’t turn away from PR based on the Scottish example. Scotland has an electoral system that is sort of all of the bad bits of PR, without any of the good bits, it’s just a softer first past the post really. If you look comparatively at NZ, PR there very closely mirrors how people actually voted, smaller parties have more leverage, and coalitions are more likely and more transparent.

@PacificState While this might not be able to fix issues like Brexit, I would argue that NZ style PR in the UK would make future massive cock ups like the Brexit referendum, much less likely. More diversity of ideas and forcing political parties to work together (to moderate dumb ideas) can only be a good thing. Additionally, an electorate feeling like no vote is wasted, will increase engagement in voting. You say reform will get more representation - yes it will, but so will the greens, lib dems and crucially an as yet unformed party that might have some really bloody good ideas!

Furthermore, you only have to look at the US to see the bad outcomes of FPTP, where parties who actually lose the popular vote often come to power and gerrymandering wins the day. The end result of FPTP is Trump.

Our current one wildly underrepresents Reform voters (I hate Reform, but unfair is unfair).

So ?

It's also underre[presented Liberals/LibDems for over 4 decades. Yet that was never a problem, Why should it be a problem now ?

It would be because the media wasn't interested in a Liberal win but are very keen for a Reform one ?

I’ve often regretted I have to vote for party not local MP. I’ve had really good MPs that weren’t in my preferred party and really dire offerings from those that were. However, I can see the issues if it were separated. Though on the other hand it is a shame to lose a really good constituency MP for their political stance especially if they’re not so hardline/prominent within their party - I do know this can’t add up.
Also though, having worked at a County Council I have been really surprised when Tory changed to Labour (long time ago) but neither council leader (and councillors) acted how you may expect - one example being addressed as a ‘colleague’ by the Tory leader and ‘employee’ by the Labour one - minor but stuck with me, many more major examples though - whilst these were obviously councillors, do we ever know the person we are voting for at all so maybe just vote the manifesto and hope it means as much as it should.

I used to think the same but now I don't. It's natural to think pr is the answer when your chosen tribe is not in power but there are so many examples of how PR is a disaster.
At best there's no consensus so nothing gets done and at worst a handful of extremists hold the casting vote and therefore the power.

I was thinking about this earlier, maybe it's for another thread but I was thinking about a "fantasy politics" game. Choose the best politicians of recent years from any party and put them together.

The electoral reform I’d do is mandatory voting.

Help even out the age disparity in who votes.

Hopefully improve public finances, as those voting are going to be on the hook to pay for it for longer.

Hopefully make policy more future-looking too.

I’ve supported PR since the Charter ‘88 days (as in, 1988…) so I’m not sure why you’re taking that tone with me. I think each vote should have an equal value, or as close to it as possible. I just don’t think it would solve our current structural problems.

I'm left of centre but I'm baffled that the basic knowledge (I won't say belief) that there are biological differences between boys and girls/ men and women has become politicised. It shouldn't be left or right wing. It just is. I can't help thinking that some left wing people are more concerned with loud and performative "goodness' than with engaging their brains and acting like adults.

I agree, they need to stop following fad, temporary ideologies and stick to their roots.

Someone said earlier more RW but nationalise railways. My god, yes. Same with water and energy companies. And childcare! Plus pay decent and equitable parental benefits instead of supporting benefit scroungers, covid fraud benefits, and don't get me started on the money going on misuse of ECHR within the migrant system. Never created for the purpose it is now used for, we should keep it, this nonsense must stop.

Also EU was better for us politically and economically. I've always been a Remainer. Both Tories and Labour went wrong with it, and Labour is finished after TWAW malarkey and Rachel Reeves, her policies should have got her out this autumn. Shocking lies, not accountable.

What do you think the implications will be? Mental health

RoC - sure start should not have been scrapped (but there was need for evolving it), Hillary said Abortion should be available, safe and rare, I’m very much pro choice, but like that framing. I think Climate Change is real - but think Ed Miliband is ridiculous and was better eating pork sandwiches.

RW

Most LW view - renationalise natural monopolies like water and rail. Capitalism doesn't work without competition and the private sector will always run rings around the public sector in a business context if given half a chance (see also PFI deals for schools and hospitals).

The issue, though, is that without the profit motive, how does one get the public sector to be efficient and cost effective? I don't have an answer to that one.

@NeedingCoffee ’The issue, though, is that without the profit motive, how does one get the public sector to be efficient and cost effective? I don't have an answer to that one.’

(LW here) I think part of the answer is that some functions require capacity that is often surplus but occasionally crucial - see NHS during Covid or winter flu, national grid in a cold snap, sewerage systems in a wet spring, railways at peak morning commute times. If they aren’t running with slack 80% of the time, they will fail 20% of the time - with horrible consequences, because these are vital functions. That’s part of why they are no just natural monopolies, but naturally anti-profit; they cannot operate on the principle of maximising efficiency.

But the privatised water companies aren't efficient or cost effective.

That experiment has been tried and it failed.