Why we shouldn’t have an Election
Today, David Cameron, the leader of the Tory Party in case you did not know, called upon the Prime Minister to stop dithering about and to have an Election. This despite the fact that the Tories are well down in the Polls. Of course, anyone with half a brain understands that this is political posturing and that is as big a waste of space as just about all the conference speeches read end on end. But the call has been made and we have yet to hear whether Gordon has decided to have an election or not. Or, to me more accurate, we have yet to have it confirmed other than various political editors guesswork whether Gordon Brown is actually wasting any time on this idea at all.
However, before we listen to the puffed up words of opposition leaders, or the frantic panting or journalists, we should get one little technical matter correct, and that is the one about a “mandate” to be Prime Minister. I have gotten the feeling over the last few months that a very large number of people in this country have either forgotten or simply do not know how our electorial system works. I say this because, going by the newspaper reporting, there seems to be a silly idea that we actually elect a Prime Minister.
To put the record straight, we do not have a presidential system, this is a monarchy and what we elect is a party. Following an election the reigning monarch, Elizabeth II, asks the leader of the party with the largest votes if they can form a government. Assuming they have a majority they agree and go and form the government. They then, usually, become the First Minister of that government and also, by the by, become First Lord of the Treasury.
In the case of Gordon Brown, we had already had an election and were not due for another. Tony Blair stepped down and Brown became leader. As the leader of the largest party the Queen asked him if he could form a government, etcetera. So when people say that Brown was not elected, they are quite right. But having an election will still not elect him as Prime Minister, only has the MP for his constituency. So we will be in exactly the same position as we are now.
{mosimage}
Now, the media is itching. They are board after a summer that had precious little sun in it and a series of crisis that might have been interesting but were lamentably low in scandal factor. If any one wants an election it is the media and they have whipped up a storm over this, blaming it on Gordon Brown, of course, who conveniently does not wish to talk about it. David Cameron, one of the most cynical and opportunist operators in the House at the moment, has, of course, leaped on the band wagon and today accused brown of treating the electorate as fools over the issue. Even Nick Robinson is saying that Brown has got “just days to make up his mind.” Except of course he doesn’t. He has 2 years or so. And he is allowed to just not mention it again and simply get on with the job.
But outside of daft arguments of mandates and the media and political frenzy, Jeremy Paxman asked, very sensibly, whether we should have this “unnecessary” election. For that is exactly what it is. Very few “snap” elections have ever been called and they are all usually for a very solid reason, like an abandoning of a major manifesto or similar. Brown has only been PM for a few months, and Parliament is not even back yet. Calling an election would dissolve parliament and turn everything on its head. When what we need is a government doing some governing. Yes, I know that the country would not come to a standstill, but we really do not want more elections than we really need.
On top of that there is the issue that not all candidates have been selected yet, people in the parties are really very unprepared and some of the electoral system is still being redesigned and may not cope this soon. And there is genuinely a problem when it comes to voting. People really want to have a handle on who they are voting for, even if they think they are electing a Prime Minister. And we don’t yet. Brown is new to the job, and people really did not get to know him while he was at the treasury. And Cameron is still waffling around trying to look and sound cool. Apart from the couple of headline issues all I got as a general passing idea from the Tories was that they want everyone to get married or else, and they want to bring back national service.
So please, no election now. It would be fascinating for the media, but very unkind on the country – and, sorry, but the needs of the people should ALWAYS outweigh the needs of the media. Pity it doesn’t happen like that often!
Related posts:
- A Very Brown Speech
- Challenging Nick
- Is there anything left for Brown?
- Good Sense Returns
- Electoral Reform NOW
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...