UK adopts a Proportional voting system in 1917

kenmac

Banned
In 1917 it was recommending the STV form of proportional representation be adopted for British elections.
However, the proposal was lost when put to the vote in the House of Commons by just 7 votes..
I believe this bill if passed would not only have changed British history but the history of the world.

For example at the next general election the coalition of Conservatives and Liberals would still have had a large majority but by 1922 everything would change.
In the 1918 election saw a number of smaller parties gain MP's with this new electoral system in place these parties may well have grown.

1922 Election Result

Conservative - 29%
Labour - 24%
Liberal - 16%
National Liberal - 15%
National party - 5% (merger of the National Democratic Party and National Party)
Communist party - 4% (merger of British Socialist party and various other Socialist groups)
Prohibition party - 3%
Agriculturalist party - 2% (Agrarian/Farmers Union party)
Others - 2%

Lab/Lib/NL coalition government formed.

Prime Minister - Herbert Asquith
Chancellor - David Lloyd George
Home Secretary - John Robert Clynes
 
Am I missing something? As the STV system was not used, how would we know what were the voters' preferences for the transfer of their votes?

It appears to me that all one can interpret from past General Election statistics is what might have happened were Parliamentary seats to have been apportion in accordance with overall results, either at a constituency or national level. Of course, in an ATL one is free to create 'results', but I would hope that the first GE after the POD would be based upon the actual results.
 

kenmac

Banned
Am I missing something? As the STV system was not used, how would we know what were the voters' preferences for the transfer of their votes?

It appears to me that all one can interpret from past General Election statistics is what might have happened were Parliamentary seats to have been apportion in accordance with overall results, either at a constituency or national level. Of course, in an ATL one is free to create 'results', but I would hope that the first GE after the POD would be based upon the actual results.

It was.
The 1922 election is the second election after POD.
 
I was always intrigued by the failure of that vote. Although I think Labour will still eclipse the Liberals in the long run, it will be a major boon to them, right into the 1930s they were polling millions of votes but bugger all seats. Also the 'coupon' strategy to crowd out non-coalition parties will be severly hampered.

Also the first election after 1917 was the 1918 'khaki' election I believe.

Beyond ensuring the Liberals aren't shunted out of the picture, I'm not sure who will benefit, the Communists will do better but bar a handful of seats, not by much. There was no syndicalist tradition in Britain so I doubt you'll see a split of unionised labour like in France.

Then again who knows what parties might arise, just look at Scotland now, the governing SNP won the largest share of the vote but won very few constituency seats, under FPTP they'd be only be in second or third place.

The Liberals will still split over free trade but you might end up with two rival parties rather than a National-Liberal supplement of the Tories, though they'll still be keen on coalitions no doubt. A more successful Fascist/Naitonalist party might arise. Beaverbrook's United Empire Crusade might form a true party of protectionist nationalists. I like the idea of a British Agrarian Party.

Hmm, I'll muse on this, might come back.
 
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