It is unlikely, but there might just be Leadership Elections coming up in all three parties, after Labour does badly on Thursday, after the Lib Dems do even worse (although that won't get much coverage), and after the Tories' poll lead is exposed as a lie by their failure to win the Crewe and Nantwich by-election.
Should even one of these happen, then it would present the opportunity to change (and once one of them did this, then they would all have to) the way in which both Leaders are chosen and most MPs are effectively chosen.
In the course of each Parliament, each party should submit a shortlist of the two candidates nominated by the most branches (including those of affiliated organisations where applicable) to a binding ballot of the whole electorate at constituency level for the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, and at national level for the Leader.
All the ballots for Prospective Parliamentary Candidate should be held on the same day, and all the ballots for Leader should be held on the same day. Each of these ballots should be held at public expense at the request of five per cent or more of registered voters in the constituency or the country, as appropriate.
Each candidate in each of these ballots should have a tax-free campaigning allowance out of public funds, conditional upon matching funding by resolution of a membership organisation. The name of that organisation should appear on the ballot paper after that of the candidate. There should be a ban on all other campaign funding, and on all campaign spending above twice that allowance.
Likewise, in the course of each Parliament, each party should submit to a binding ballot of the whole electorate the ten policies proposed by the most branches (including those of affiliated organisations where applicable), with voters entitled to vote for up to two, and with the highest-scoring seven guaranteed inclusion in the next General Election Manifesto. All of those ballots should be held on the same day, and each of them should be held at public expense at the request of five per cent or more of registered voters in the country.
The official campaign for each policy should have a tax-free campaign allowance, conditional upon matching funding by resolution of a membership organisation. The name of that organisation should appear on the ballot paper after that of the policy. And there should be a ban on all other campaign funding, and on all campaign spending above twice that allowance.
So, who will take the lead?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Brilliant! Bloody brilliant!
ReplyDeleteWell, the Euston/Jackson Party (which doesn't officially exist but everyone knows it does, like Militant used to be) sure as hell won't.
ReplyDeletePut Kamm or whoever out to a ballot of the whole electorate? They don't even dare put him up for the European Parliament from London, where most of them live and he'd only need one ninth of the vote to get in. That's not the eligible vote, it's just the people who do vote. They don't even believe that they can get that.
In fact, they don't believe that they can get anyone in anywhere even on PR. So they won't meet your challenge. Cowardly snivelling bastards. They won't go to war themselves and they won't face the electorate as themselves. White feathers all round.