Hand of History

David Cameron feels the hand of history where it hurts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/25/david-cameron-david-mitchell


The UK might very well be on the brink of a political revolution, according to David Mitchell. The age old system of only two parties (and some small insignificant ones) might become a hung parliament and end into a political system with several smaller parties. This is due to the rise of the Liberal Democrats and its leader Nick Clegg, as well as the discontentment among voters. The problem with the two party system is that the leader of one party (often the opposition) only has to prove that he is less terrible than his opponent. Debates will have to be about content again and not just about putting the other one into a bad daylight. This change will come hardest to the conservatives, as they have made the most profit from the old system. They are also the ones most strongly opposed to the approaching change.


I completely agree with David Mitchell’s views in this article. A system with more than two parties that causes a hung parliament will be fairer and change the tone of the debate in the UK, which is too harsh and too much directed at denigrating the opponent. I also hope the voting system will be changed into something that will divide the votes proportionally among the parties. This way, it will be impossible for a party to gain a reasonable number of the votes but not enter parliament because of no local majority. Also possible would be a combination of the two systems, just like the one in New Zealand.

Apart from the content, I really liked David’s way of writing, using comparisons and typically British humour to make his point. Sharp and sarcastic, without forgetting about the seriousness of the subject.