Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Would it work?

Would proportional voting in Scotland work to promote more efficient legislation as this former SMP suggests? Has it worked in Mexico?

Henry McLeish wants Holyrood's current voting system scrapped

A former first minister is calling for first past the post voting system used to elect most MSPs to be replaced with proportional representation (PR).

Henry McLeish, who was first minister between 2000 and 2001, told Good Morning Scotland he believes PR would force parties to work together…

He said said the first past the post element of the election should be scrapped and replaced, adding: "You could have a PR system that could retain the constituencies, but possibly have two members but elected on a different basis what that would do in my view is give you a parliament that would never have an overall majority…

Mr McLeish, who led a Labour-Lib Dem executive in the parliament's first session, said that Holyrood has barely come of age.

He added: "It's in its infancy... In the stock of things, Westminster has been on that site in some form for nearly 1,000 years - we're just on the foothills of building a new Scotland, a new parliament, so in that sense I think there is a great opportunity to reflect seriously and then look forward."

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Labels: concepts, electoral systems, proportional voting