tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post1022743691722336005..comments2024-01-23T16:53:02.428+00:00Comments on Mark Thompson: Harriet's boundary objections are objectionableMark Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00744387583593537268noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-624283883137687422010-06-20T19:53:35.828+01:002010-06-20T19:53:35.828+01:00I think the three commenters above make similar po...I think the three commenters above make similar points, but just to add, when you consider registration is much lower in urban seats, Labour seats actually contain more eligible voters than Tory ones. But the Tories aren't interested in that sort of 'equalising constituencies, which is why their naked partizanship is being question by Harman.Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-5070476279338826842010-06-09T21:08:30.384+01:002010-06-09T21:08:30.384+01:00"But perhaps a more fundamental objection to ..."But perhaps a more fundamental objection to this approach is that if we were to accept Harman's principle that there should be no redrawing of boundaries until voter registration figures improve"<br /><br />I don't think that's necessarily what's implied. I think more important should be to establish exactly *who should* be registered, and build the constituencies around that. In other words, in the next census (next year?) draw the boundaries around the number of eligible voters in each constituency, registered or not.David Webernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-37089059400524352202010-06-09T20:45:25.480+01:002010-06-09T20:45:25.480+01:00I'm rather inclined to the view that anybody w...I'm rather inclined to the view that anybody who has remained off the electoral register during such a close-fought election obviously prefers it that way. They don't <i>want</i> to be counted.<br /><br />There's also the issue of all the dodgy postal votes that should be addressed.<br /><br />However, neither of these issues should stop the boundaries commission from acting.Mick Andersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-60017029772720484572010-06-09T19:33:22.696+01:002010-06-09T19:33:22.696+01:00Labour have nothing to fear from changing the boun...Labour have nothing to fear from changing the boundaries. Repeated studies have shown that it won't especially redress the existing Labour bias in the system. As far as I'm concerned, if it keeps the Tories happy and further weakens the single member-constituency link then I'm all for it.<br /><br />Where they might have a point from the point of view of denying people representation is if the review is based solely on the electoral register. I'm trying to ascertain to what extent it is based on the register and not, as would seem more sensible, census returns (I'm surprised that I don't know this and am having trouble finding out). Furthermore, the Electoral Commission has recently published a study on how registration fares across the UK.<br /><br />It seems to me that we have all the data we need at our fingertips already to draw up these boundaries in a fair way. All that we need to do is pull the various statistics together, in an open and transparent way, and agree upon a formula. This will resolve the Labour objection while getting the Tories their review.<br /><br />And then the rest of us can concentrate on the thing that REALLY leads to political exclusion: the voting system.James Graham (Quaequam Blog!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00319089107820032874noreply@blogger.com