Chris Prosser on an electoral system for the House of Lords and local elections

Chris Prossers two latest blogs in our own Politics in Spires blog on an electoral system for the House of Lords and the relationship between local and parliamentary elections were picked up by The Electoral Reform Society blog (10 April, 2012) and the Channel 4 News blog (04 May, 2012).

The Electoral Reform Society blog responds to Chris argument that above the line voting would not necessarily reduce independence as closed-list systems only increase party discipline due to politicians desire to be placed higher on the list at subsequent elections. On the other hand, Channel 4 News FactCheck elaborates on Chriss electoral analysis and explains why Labours gains in the last local government elections will most likely not help Labour in the next general elections. According to Chris model there is a 76.24 per cent chance that the Conservatives will be the biggest party in 2015 and a 15.35 per cent chance Labour will be the biggest party.

To read Chris blogs on the House of Lords and the local elections click here and here. To read the responses click here and here.

Chris Prosser is a DPhil student in politics at St Catherines College, Oxford.