Oh, I thought we were all Brits together. Because, you know, of England and Wales dragging Scotland and Northern Ireland out of the EU.
UK Politics - BoJo and chums
- Thread starter Samson
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Technically speaking, we have never voted in a prime minister. Ever! I suppose the costituents of a sitting MP who is also Prime Minister could claim to have voted in, or for, the PM. But everyone else just votes for an individual who represents a party (and the individual part is more important than the party part, as MPs can and do change parties mid term). And thats pretty much it. You dont get a say about anything else
I dont know why you reduce it down to nations. London was almost as pro EU as Scotland and has almost double the population.
To suggest that when voting for a particular party that the current leader doesn't factor into it is going to give me a significant headache considering the headache Labour got for Corbyn.
Snowygerry
Deity
The UK is unique in the regard that the party leader automatically becomes PM afaik - or are there others that use the same system ?
The trouble is the Tories are fighting their civil war when they are in power so we risk getting a PM whose platform is nothing like the one their party stood on at the last general election (again). At least Labour's civil wars have been fought in opposition.
Callaghan and Brown were similarly chosen between elections (and promptly chucked out at the 1st opportunity) but their policies weren't a radical departure from what their party had stood on at the last general election.
Callaghan and Brown were similarly chosen between elections (and promptly chucked out at the 1st opportunity) but their policies weren't a radical departure from what their party had stood on at the last general election.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Canada works the same way.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
The word "technically" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, here. It's generally understood that voting for a particular party in a British election is an endorsement of that party forming a government under its current leadership, and major parties explicitly campaign on that basis; an honest observer would conclude that this is a basic principle of British electoral politics, whatever the particular mechanisms by the which votes turn into governments. People do not dislike non-electoral changes in government because they don't understand how the system works, but rather because they understand that their was an implicit contract between politicians and the public about how the system is supposed to work, and don't like it when one party to that contract suddenly pretends not to understand the terms.
EnglishEdward
Deity
Yes, but I don't have the option for voting for a particular
party at all, I have the option of voting for a candidate.
Even if one considers oneself as voting for the prime Minister by
voting for the party by voting for the candidate for the party, one
knows full well that Prime Ministers have and may resign mid term.
Setting Boris Johnson aside, there are six such incidences in my lifetime.
Harold MacMillan did, Harold Wilson did, Margaret Thatcher did,
Tony Blair did, David Cameron did, Theresa May did.
party at all, I have the option of voting for a candidate.
Even if one considers oneself as voting for the prime Minister by
voting for the party by voting for the candidate for the party, one
knows full well that Prime Ministers have and may resign mid term.
Setting Boris Johnson aside, there are six such incidences in my lifetime.
Harold MacMillan did, Harold Wilson did, Margaret Thatcher did,
Tony Blair did, David Cameron did, Theresa May did.
Theres also the fact that candidates can represent one party for the election and then they switch or sit as an independent mid term. And the point here is that in an election you are primarily voting for the person not the party.
I think most people vote like this. But thats not actually how the system works. Its quite common though having people vote for the individual rather than the party. Particularly if they are a good constituency MP.
Well, if we judge my MP from what she claims to have done for the constituency, she's competent and works hard. Sadly, she's also a Tory and has rarely ever rebelled against the party, making her one of the "silent (and spineless) majority" of Tory "moderates".
It is how the system works though. We have parties that run campaigns and its candidates from the major parties that win seats for the most part and those MPs vote with their party almost all the time.
I think it's a pretty big assumption to refer to any kind of majority consensus on this.
What's the likelihood of reinstalling Bojo with a new vote, prior to the general election?*
Or at least change Truss, who frankly is probably the tories worst bet in an election.
Maybe they are of the view that Kier is so terrible that it won't matter.
*For that, of course, Bojo would need a high-profile job, like the one May gave him.
Or at least change Truss, who frankly is probably the tories worst bet in an election.
Maybe they are of the view that Kier is so terrible that it won't matter.
*For that, of course, Bojo would need a high-profile job, like the one May gave him.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Conservatives need to implode, kinda like the Canadian Progressive Conservatives in the 1993 election when they went from 156 seats to 2 seats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Canadian_federal_election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Canadian_federal_election
Technically you are right (we don't directly vote for a PM either) but in all practical terms, the UK voters vote for the party, whose leader they wish to assume the office of PM. Especially in a two-party system as the British.
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