'Cozy duopoly' (From Herald Series)

'Cozy duopoly'

9:00am Wednesday 1st July 2009

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Sir, A point which does not seem to have been given much prominence by mainstream media in the UK is the method by which the Speaker was chosen.

His election was decided by a form of proportional representation, with the votes of failed challengers going to the next most likely to succeed.

If proportional representation is good enough to choose Parliament's Speaker, as well as the Scottish Government, why are the British electorate being denied this method of voting?

First past the post is plainly archaic and favours the cozy duopoly which has done so much to run this country into the ground over the last sixty years and beyond. All governments since the end of the Second World War have been minority governments, with more people voting against the eventual winners than for them. Before the British electorate falls asleep again, the pressure on our tarnished MPs needs to be maintained in order to achieve the single transferable vote in time for the forthcoming General Election.

That's always assuming that the current pretender, Gordon Brown, doesn't mount a constitutional coup d'etat, of course!

Timothy J Oates 22 St Peter's Road Abingdon

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