Conservative Leadership Election

I am not a Conservative. I'm glad Boris has gone. I would relegate most of the cabinet to the backbenches for neither controlling his behaviour or speaking out against it. To my mind Sunak resigned to further his own ambitions. If it was really a matter of integrity & conscience it should have happened long ago. Truss still supports a man with no integrity or moral compass.

I realise I'm not unbiased.

But this election just shows how far away from democracy the UK has travelled. 23 different people have become Prime Minister since 1900. Of these17 changeovers happened outside of elections, but 3 were followed by an election called within 50 days of the new Prime Minister taking office. Recent examples are Gordon Brown, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. The Conservatives seem to have made a habit of doing this.

https://fullfact.org/news/unelected-prime-ministers-common-or-not/

Why wouldn't they - it means they hold onto power without any mandate from the people?

Our system of government is rooted in the past. It goes back to "rotten boroughs", Peterloo, male only franchise & womens suffrage. Change has been resisted by the rich & powerful throughout British history.

Wales & Scotland have at least got modern parliament buildings with no adversarial opposing benches like the houses of parliament. It sets the tone for heckling, braying, mocking & the pathetic boys behaviour we see every day in England.

 

I'm heartily sick of it all. 

If the UK wants to call itself democratic then it needs to move into the 21st century. 

• The voting system should represent votes cast, not artificial boundaries set to maximise conservative votes. 
• Hustings should only be about policy, not slagging off the opposition. 
• The amount of money spent on elections should be centrally funded so that each party has an equal chance & wealthy people & organisations can't sway the outcome.
• If a prime minister goes & the party elects a new leader that leader needs to call an election immediately to see if they party still has a mandate from the people.
• The houses of parliament should be sold & parliament should move to the middle of the UK into a new, purpose built, building. 
• Politicians need to make long term, well considered, policy in the interest of the country & the wider world. Not decisions based on being re-elected & retaining power as is the case currently. There is nothing wrong with a Coalition if it means that decision making is non party political but is a well thought out consensus.
  

It isn't rocket science. There are traditions that we can & should hold into. But this is too important not to change. People feel alienated from politicians & politics. It really isn't surprising considering the way things are at the moment.