GE2024

The Election That Everyone Lost

/ Dr Craig Dalzell / Leave a comment

It is almost unnecessary to observe that the British Government had for more than a century been and could only be a Whig Government; and that the present administration is, as every administration in this country must necessarily be, a Whig administration. – UK Government Ministerial Memorandum to the Prince Regent, 1812

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Who were the winners in the General Election? I can tell you who won power for the next few years, but it’s harder to find who actually “Won” rather than just who lost less hard than everyone else. This is a major problem for democracy in the UK and one that needs to be fixed before the next election or we’re going to be put in a potentially very dangerous situation. The low turnout and catastrophically unfair First Past The Post voting system we have has resulted in a government with massive power, almost no possible accountability but simultaneously the most brittle mandate for that power possible.

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Democratic Mandate

/ Dr Craig Dalzell / Leave a comment

“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.” – E.B. White

This post and the research underpinning it is undertaken in my own time and outwith other political work that I do. It is presented here free to access as a public service but if you’d like to throw me a wee tip to support this work, you can here.

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It’s time to do a democracy.

Between 7am and 10pm on the 4th of July 2024, the people of the UK (well, those who are allowed to vote) will choose the next government of the UK. If polls are to believed, this could be the most significant election in almost a decade and a half though whether that is a good or a bad thing will be a subject best answered between you and the pencil in the Polling Station.

Even if no-one in your constituency has won your vote, I would still ask you to turn out and spoil your ballot if that is the best option you can think of. As someone said to me recently, not voting says that you are happy with the result regardless of what it is while spoiling the ballot tells the politicians that you’re not happy with any of the choices given to you.

If, however, you have made up your mind, remember that your chosen candidate won’t get your vote if you don’t cast it so please make every effort to do so.

If you’re still not sure how your vote translates into seats and power, read my guide here.

And if you’re still not sure who to vote for, then check out my manifesto library which might help you come to a decision.

I’ll be back after the results come out to let you know what I think and where Scotland may be going from there.

And to all of the candidates brave enough to subject themselves to this contest, Be true to the reasons you’re standing, and good luck!
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The UK’s Democracy Is Broken – Why Does No-One Want To Fix It?

/ Dr Craig Dalzell / 1 Comment

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker

(This is an extended version of an article that previously appeared in The National. You can throw me a tip to support this blog here.)

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Given the audience likely to read this column, the statement “UK democracy is broken” isn’t going to feel uncontroversial or even particularly objectionable, but it is one that is being forced into sharp relief by the ongoing UK General Election campaign. We’re are all, regardless of our political leanings, being ill served by it.

This column started with a thought around the claims that the UK Labour Party are eyeing the potential of winning a “supermajority” after next Thursday with the loudest complainants of such a result being those in conservative circles. Understandably so as it would mean Labour winning a majority so large that they can’t possibly be challenged by the Opposition and so large that they don’t even need to worry about a rebellion on the back benches or the inevitable trickle of by-elections triggered by scandal, illness and the march of time threatening to flip the balance of power.

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