Obviously things don't magically get fixed overnight, but the vibe is different. People wanting to fix problems rather than hide them. A cabinet acutely aware of the extraordinary responsibility they have been given.
There will always be difficulties, but the difference is that a government is now running towards, not away from, the fire.
As you look at the media and its response to the election, would you consider whether reporting needs to revert to having more specialist policy journalists rather than the generalist political writers we currently see.
I didn't - I just feel so underqualified to talk about Wales. I know more about Scottish politics than I ever thought I would for a variety of reasons. So despite my London base I feel a bit qualified to talk about it. But I don't know Welsh politics very well and as such would be pontificating from such a low base that I would be that ill informed London voice that adds nothing but noise!
I think there are four (and a half) reasons why I can't see this happening.
1 (and a half). They just won a stonking majority by working the current system incredibly efficiently. No party who does that wants to change that system. (The half is that the minute they do that, they feed a narrative that they are, therefore, an illegitimate government).
2. The main beneficiary would be Nigel Farage and no one in Labour wants to let him into the conversation at all never mind actively empower him.
3. It would take a referendum to do it, and I don't see this government wanting to hold any referendums at all. Scotland is put to bed now, why stir up a divisive referendum when you don't have to?
4. It's not the way they want to use their political time or capital.
Why do you say "It would take a referendum to do it"? Labour is already planning to change the electoral system by extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds without a referendum. A previous Labour government introduced the alternative vote for election of Mayors and a form of PR for the London Assembly without a referendum. The Tories abolished the alternative vote for Mayors without a referendum.
2. Extending the franchise is not the same constitutionally as changing the voting system. I know we don't technically have a constitution but that would be the argument.
3. The Mayors were newly established and so they voting system used for them could also be newly established and...
4. There was a big outcry - not least from Labour - that changing the mayoral voting system, as the Tories did, without consultation was a disgrace. So they can't and won't do the same.
All excuses not to reform a system which gives you two thirds of the seats with one third of the votes. I believe the only other European country which uses this system is Belarus!
Firstly, you seem to be labouring under the impression I am making a passionate defence of FPTP rather than an assessment of where the politics of electoral reform actually stand.
As it happens I am utterly agnostic on the voting system. I voted against AV in 2011 but would have voted in favour of AV+. Even more than this I worked for an electoral reform organisation (Not the ERS) for some time in the early 2000s. In fact the experience of working with some of the people there - which was not good - may well have been the start of my journey to agnosticism. They were not convincing.
What I will never, ever understand - and part of my journey away from caring about it - is people who look at this country and still make it their number one priority.
There was a stabbing at the end of my road at the weekend. I can't get a doctor's appointment to renew a prescription for 9 days (and I'm on the lucky end of waiting times). I can't see how my nephew or niece will ever afford to buy a house. Our prisons are literally full. Our schools are literally falling apart.
Fix all of that then talk to me about changing the bloody voting system. It's just a second (at best) tier priority for me.
So you can say "excuses" I will say "reasons" and we can leave those reading this thread to decide who's more convincing.
I was not labouring under the impression that you were making a passionate defence of FPTP nor was I arguing that it should be the priority of the new government. I was specifically addressing your argument that it could not be done without a referendum.
Congratulations, Emma!
Obviously things don't magically get fixed overnight, but the vibe is different. People wanting to fix problems rather than hide them. A cabinet acutely aware of the extraordinary responsibility they have been given.
There will always be difficulties, but the difference is that a government is now running towards, not away from, the fire.
An insightful piece.
As you look at the media and its response to the election, would you consider whether reporting needs to revert to having more specialist policy journalists rather than the generalist political writers we currently see.
Absolutely. We need 'beats' back as well as needing much better local journalism.
You forgot Wales, Emma!
I didn't - I just feel so underqualified to talk about Wales. I know more about Scottish politics than I ever thought I would for a variety of reasons. So despite my London base I feel a bit qualified to talk about it. But I don't know Welsh politics very well and as such would be pontificating from such a low base that I would be that ill informed London voice that adds nothing but noise!
Will Labour ever risk installing proportional representation?
I think there are four (and a half) reasons why I can't see this happening.
1 (and a half). They just won a stonking majority by working the current system incredibly efficiently. No party who does that wants to change that system. (The half is that the minute they do that, they feed a narrative that they are, therefore, an illegitimate government).
2. The main beneficiary would be Nigel Farage and no one in Labour wants to let him into the conversation at all never mind actively empower him.
3. It would take a referendum to do it, and I don't see this government wanting to hold any referendums at all. Scotland is put to bed now, why stir up a divisive referendum when you don't have to?
4. It's not the way they want to use their political time or capital.
Why do you say "It would take a referendum to do it"? Labour is already planning to change the electoral system by extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds without a referendum. A previous Labour government introduced the alternative vote for election of Mayors and a form of PR for the London Assembly without a referendum. The Tories abolished the alternative vote for Mayors without a referendum.
Several reasons.
1. precedent has been set in 2011.
2. Extending the franchise is not the same constitutionally as changing the voting system. I know we don't technically have a constitution but that would be the argument.
3. The Mayors were newly established and so they voting system used for them could also be newly established and...
4. There was a big outcry - not least from Labour - that changing the mayoral voting system, as the Tories did, without consultation was a disgrace. So they can't and won't do the same.
All excuses not to reform a system which gives you two thirds of the seats with one third of the votes. I believe the only other European country which uses this system is Belarus!
Firstly, you seem to be labouring under the impression I am making a passionate defence of FPTP rather than an assessment of where the politics of electoral reform actually stand.
As it happens I am utterly agnostic on the voting system. I voted against AV in 2011 but would have voted in favour of AV+. Even more than this I worked for an electoral reform organisation (Not the ERS) for some time in the early 2000s. In fact the experience of working with some of the people there - which was not good - may well have been the start of my journey to agnosticism. They were not convincing.
What I will never, ever understand - and part of my journey away from caring about it - is people who look at this country and still make it their number one priority.
There was a stabbing at the end of my road at the weekend. I can't get a doctor's appointment to renew a prescription for 9 days (and I'm on the lucky end of waiting times). I can't see how my nephew or niece will ever afford to buy a house. Our prisons are literally full. Our schools are literally falling apart.
Fix all of that then talk to me about changing the bloody voting system. It's just a second (at best) tier priority for me.
So you can say "excuses" I will say "reasons" and we can leave those reading this thread to decide who's more convincing.
I was not labouring under the impression that you were making a passionate defence of FPTP nor was I arguing that it should be the priority of the new government. I was specifically addressing your argument that it could not be done without a referendum.