To think that the election results don't add up?

[RobynRB]

How did LibDem get 70 odd seats and Reform 4 when Reform got 14% of the vote. I mean, I understand how it works... but it's hardly cause for LibDem's 'greatest result' ever is it? I bet Nigel is fuming. And rightly so.

It adds up if we consider that reform uk is a bunch of right wing extremists led by Nigel Farage, who probably wouldn’t hit water if he jumped out of a boat. They just ran for all the wrong seats in such a way that they finished a strong second in scores of seats without being the favorite candidate anywhere.

The Lib Dems of course have been at this for decades, as their survival as a third party depends on being able to extract the most seats out of a fairly low “ceiling” of votes. So basically, strategy + fptp = weird results.

Argh. This type of thing sounds like a good argument for people having to do a competence test before voting (and a course if they fail). Some countries do implement this - I think Spain does.

Remember all the frantic social media posts before the EU referendum, from people who didn't know how to vote? I recall it being covered in junior school. Perhaps a lot of kids skipped that class.

Why do we use pencils?

I believe it dates back to when ink took longer to dry and the use of blotting paper etc.

If the ink isn't dry and the ballot paper is folded over, you can end up with inky blots across the ballot paper and it becomes difficult to know who the vote was actually for, and the ballot paper is classed as spoilt

You can take your own pen if you want to, or use lipstick if that floats your boat, but the risk is yours if it smudges and spoils your ballot paper.

Maybe they should provide fast drying 'dobbers'....

In a way they do - they are called pencils.

Is that you nige?

Yes this is Nigel. Clearly I have nothing better to do than waste my time on here when I could be in the pub with my racist friends getting drunk.

Indeed. We all know that his name is actually Sir Keir Starmer. And the other man of the people, the Lib Dem leader, is Sir Ed Davey. Two late middle aged, bordering on old, white establishment males, one of whom was privately educated (albeit his school started as a mere selective state grammar) Good to have diversity in political leadership at last 😂

I did not deliberately misspell his name, I just made a mistake. I was taught that it was i before e except after c so I just assumed that was the way it was.

I hope you are equally put out when people call President Donald Trump, 'Trump'.

Or do only people on the 'fashionable' side of politics deserve respect?

Farage is a racist cunt so if he is 'fuming' then I am happy. He can kiss my arse

Have you ever been at the count as part of a local party? I have. Ballot boxes are sealed until they are at the count. Every count table has representatives from a few parties watching it. They are not allowed to touch (criminal offence? I was certainly very strongly instructed). We watched every ballot paper be unfolded and sorted into stacks by party.

someone rubbing out a mark and making a different one could not be done.

how many people have anything to do with their local MP? Quite a lot. You are very lucky if you’ve never needed yours and neverv know when you might in future - they can literally be life savers if they know their stuff. The thought of not having someone to represent you nationally would be dreadful. The really ones are shown a lot of appreciation by their constituents and will buck voting trends nationally. I will be fascinated to see if the likes of Farage and Ticw get stuck in in Clacton and Boston.

It does add up and its easy to understand. It was a thinly spread protest vote for a fringe political party.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

This is actually really helpful. Best explanation I’ve read of why FPTP is not actually a bad thing. Thank you.

Did she say, “Because Boris Johnson left politics in 2023”?

Nah. Nige is down at the pub, beer in one hand and fag in the other. Loudly bellowing with the Reform votes, who are slapping him on the back.

It might be a vote but it isn’t a representative democracy.

In a representative democracy the make up of the Parliament represents the political sympathies of the voters. In the UK it just doesn’t. Plain and simple to see.

Under proportional representation Labour would have 35% of MPs, Cons 24%, Reform 14%, Lib Dem’s 12% etc etc

I agree. I know lots of people who have raised local or individual issues with their local MP. It is often recommended on here as well.

If you think it isn't right that Labour get 64% of seats with 34% of the vote, what do you think of Labour having 100% of power when only 14% of the population voted for them.

Imagine 14 people wanting to go for a meal and trying to decide where to go. 4 of them are children so they get no say. 4 of the adults say they aren't bothered where they end up. The remaining 6 adults vote for their favourite restaurant. 2 vote for McDonald's, 1 votes for KFC, and the other 3 vote for different Chinese restaurants. So they go to McDonald's (and do so every week for the next 5 years). That's commensurate to what happened in the 2024 general election.

If labour got 33% of the vote, and only 60% of people voted, then only 1 in 5 UK adults actively wanted to elect Starmer/Labour. And some of those people didn’t even actively want to elect labour - they just wanted the tories gone.

what a miserable situation

Nah - it’s a fucking delightful situation. I absolutely wanted Tories gone and labour in. But voted LD in my constituency which helped oust the longstanding Tory. But I’m a labour supporter. Helping reduce Tory seats means labour get elected. Yay!

and it’s exactly what happens every election. Take a look at the 1987 one and the LD vote.

you need to get over it and stop moaning.

🤣🤣🤣 worst analogy ever!

you don’t understand FPTP.

My post was intended to be ironic…not disrespectful. Sorry you took it that way. I don’t mind how you spell Sir Keir Starmer’s name - I don’t trust him and don’t expect he’ll be the leader of the Labour Party for the entire term of this government anyway :)

That's what happens in every election

This was talked about in the 2015 election.

And don't get us started on the massive change with Brexit - how it didn't take a majority of registered voters to massively change our country. It took just 52% of people who turned out to vote.

But people who previously didn't care about our voting system are suddenly concerned about it.