Posted on 03/16/2024 12:41:34 AM PDT by RandFan
In another dramatic change of allegiances, Lee Anderson, the Labour councillor turned Tory MP, will now bat for Reform in the Red (Blue) Wall.
The controversial MP has had a tumultuous few months, first resigning as deputy Tory chairman over the Rwanda Bill and then being sacked from the party altogether over an Islamophobia row.
One of the most prominent of the Right-wing “Red (Blue) Wallers” elected in 2019, his defection to the insurgent party founded by Nigel Farage poses a serious problem for Rishi Sunak.
Downing Street advisers had seen him as a “secret weapon” in their bid to win the Conservatives a fifth successive election victory.
Now, the “Red (Blue) Wall Rottweiler” has joined the party that he once warned presents a bigger risk to the Tories and to the country than Labour, and is now polling at about 10 per cent.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Basically, they're districts that are more working class but have elected Conservatives before.
Boris did well with them. Seems a long time ago now.
It won't be happening again, they're going back to Labour next time 😢
I think it’s similar in the US
But in the US the voting will be split.
I suspect GOP wont hold the House or it could be close again whilst Trump will prevail.
The peril of the UK system is that the Executive is not split from the Parliament / districts.
So what happens is the King “invites” the largest party in Parliament to form a government
It’s all very informal and done on convention. There is no constitution or even a rulebook!
Stupid system if you ask me
Why is it like this?
It goes back to the 1600s and the Civil War.
The monarch was re-instated when Cromwell died.
They didn’t write a constitution (big mistake).
So it’s like a trade-off recognizing the authority of the King while Parliament retains legislative power.
Then I guess the party system came along later and that’s how its done.
As I said, convention.
Many people dont like it because it gives the majority party too much control (Executive and Legislation).
There is a good argument for a system called “Proportional Representation” (PR) so the balance of Parliament looks more like the actual share of the vote each party wins at the election.
It’s used a lot in Europe.
I think it’s a lot fairer and one day will happen.
Yeah.
I think generally if you’re going to have a multi party system - and that is how it has ended up over the years - the best way is Proportional Representation (PR)
There was actually a referendum on it in 2010 and got rejected.
People dont fully understand it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.