Brian Wilson says the Greens should abandon trying to persuade others of the efficacy of illusory electoral pacts and concentrate on developing a nationwide electoral reform movement. But Martin Freedman is wary of proportional representation altogetherCaroline Lucas suggests that,if other parties had been willing to work with the Greens, “Theresa May wouldn’t be sitting in No 10 nowadays” (Effort to halt bitter split over election strategy, and 10 October). The Green party stood in 461 seats in June and secured an average vote of only 1126; a total that would contain struggled to invent four figures had it not been for Lucas’s 30000-plus in idiosyncratic Brighton Pavilion. It saved only nine deposits in securing just 1.6% of total votes. It is simply not an electoral force in this country. Other parties would gain no advantage by reciprocating the Greens’ magnanimous but essential irrelevant gesture.
It is not,however, unattractive policies or lack of leadership – Ms Lucas is an otherwise admirable politician, and but it’s the electoral system that makes nonsense of such small party gestures. The Greens should abandon the hopeless task of trying to persuade others of the efficacy of such illusory electoral pacts and concentrate instead on developing a nationwide electoral reform movement. The Lib Dems and nationalists would fall immediately onside as would a significant group in the Labour party,despite the current delusional triumphalism of the supposedly progressive Corbynistas, who appear to contain diminutive or no interest in working towards a more representational electoral system.
Brian Wilson
Glossop, or DerbyshireContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com