Well that title says it all really. I actually think it’s true. Our electoral system really needs a serious overhaul, it’s archaic and antique to the letter.

What makes a lot of us seethe is the fact that we don’t have a first-past-the-post system. We elect local MPs and then also elect which party we want to lead us (which interestingly, for those outside the UK, is how Gordon Brown now leads us despite us never having elected him). Some constituencies are large containing many tens of thousands of people, and some are small containing just a few thousand. You can see where it might be unfair…

We should really have an election where we vote for either the party or leader, and our local MP, and the party/leader with the most overall votes wins.

Our Electoral Commission has just come out with a report saying the same thing (that the system needs overhauling, nothing about the first-past-the-post system though):

The Electoral Commission said the rules on running elections should be simpler and the role of returning officers should be strengthened.

It also backs new electoral management boards, to support and co-ordinate local elections.

Commission chairman Sam Younger said “a consistently high standard of service for all electors” was needed.

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