Proportional representation is for the left’s own interests, not yours

But, more profoundly, compromises (in politics and elsewhere) are never made for the benefit of third parties, but for those making the compromise.

The Left have long aimed to uproot the Constitution of the United Kingdom. One aspect of this wanted destruction concerns our First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system and its replacement with proportional representation (PR). A Left-wing voice denouncing the tide this week was former Labour MP Denis Macshane, arguing that the eighty-three per cent of Labour members in favour of making it official party policy at the upcoming Labour Party conference should think again.

First Past The Post is often denounced by saying the country ends up with a government almost nobody votes for. Or, in the Brexit loaded version of the argument, that the country gets a pro-Brexit government when most vote for Brexit-opposed alternatives.  But if PR is more likely to generate coalitions where it is used, such as in Israel, surely the logic of PR means we are more likely to end up with a government for which nobody voted? We vote at general elections for one particular party, and the program they sell us- a program attached to one particular party alone. If I end up with a government of more than one party, even with one I voted for, how can I have voted for the government I end up with?

But, more profoundly, compromises (in politics and elsewhere) are never made for the benefit of third parties, but for those making the compromise. This week’s power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens is a naked example of this. The coalition is made in the interests of the Scottish Nationalists and the Greens only, to force the issue of independence upon Westminster. It is for self-interest the deal has been made, and for self-interest the aforementioned Brexit connection to PR has emerged.

To be fair to the Left, at least they are at their most honest on this constitutional issue in comparison to others. The fact of the matter is, the Constitution of the United Kingdom (before this radical stage of reform we have now entered into) is a conservative constitution. It granted liberty to all but little liberty for its own reform unless grave circumstances demanded it. They know this, and they don’t like it. Our constitution (prior to its manhandling by revolutionaries) was an obstruction to their radical agendas.

On PR, Labour members would be wise to listen to Denis Macshane. But that won’t happen. The current Labour membership has no time for anything before the golden era of Jeremy Corbyn. And thus the progressive call for the decline of our constitution will continue, and our political system will pay the price.