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FiveFingerDisco t1_j4sin09 wrote

Your problem isn't the voting system. It's the Tories and everyone who is still willing to vote for them.

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PassionatePossum t1_j4uf4dn wrote

Part of the problem is the voting system. Because it allows a party to have an absolute majority in parliament despite only having a simple majority in the popular vote. So despite the fact that they have less than 50% of the popular vote they (more or less) get to push 100% of their policy goals.

In a system of proportional representation a party with a simple majority would need to form coalitions and make compromises to that at least some policy goals of the coalition partner are on the agenda.

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DodgerWalker t1_j4veewq wrote

I was so confused until I remembered that in the UK, the word “majority” means what we call a “plurality” in the US. I take it that absolute majority means more than half in this context, which is what we Americans just call a majority, while simple majority means the most, which Americans call a plurality.

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vwma t1_j4vu620 wrote

I think you misunderstood the comment. In political science both "absolute majority" and "simple majority" are what you would commonly refer to as "majority".

The difference is that a simple majority is defined as 50%+1 vote of all votes cast, whereas an absolute majority is 50%+1 vote of all possible votes

Edited: I re-read the comment, he used the wrong term, and should've said plurality instead of simple majority. I hope this now makes sense now.

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PassionatePossum t1_j4vgudl wrote

My mistake. I probably translated the terms a little too directly from German to English. But you are right, that’s what I meant.

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Konesery t1_j4ue2ix wrote

Do you mean Tories in general, so conservative? Or the modern party that goes against all its values and ruins the country and is more socialist than Labour?

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Shuppilubiuma t1_j4ufprc wrote

How can the modern Conservative party go against 'all its values and ruins the country' if those values are determined by the Conservative party? Thirteen years of Tory mismanagement have brought the UK to its knees. Everybody is sick of their failures. Their Boomer base is dying out and everyone under 50 despises them. Our entire political system is seem as abject and corrupt. Embracing the German system might be a way of at least keeping the Union together

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Konesery t1_j4uhihf wrote

Really? Was Tony Blair just a fever dream?

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Shuppilubiuma t1_j4uj2ma wrote

Tony Blair left power 15 years ago but still lives in your head rent-free. Besides, given the choice between having the UK at 2005 living standards or those of Tory 2023, you'd struggle to find anyone who would choose Richi's austerity model.

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Konesery t1_j4um19j wrote

You ignore 2008, the UK didn't really recover from it, but to attribute it to Torie alone is delusional, as Gordon Brown didn't help either.

I would support the statement that nobody would support Rishi, but not because of his "austerity policies."

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Shuppilubiuma t1_j4usfwz wrote

No idea what you're talking about, and neither does historical record. Gordon Brown was the only world leader calling the others to action in the financial crisis of 2008. Not Obama, who had only been in office for a week, nor Merkel, but Brown. It sounds mad to say it now, but even Putin followed Brown's call to action. I'm no fan of the guy, but he acted when action was needed. For more information of why the 2008 global financial crash happened, watch 'The Big Short (2015), the events of which all happened on George W's watch.

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