Well it isn’t a slippery slope as I see it. I like D’Hondt PR, probably with the open list amendment that Kieron advocates and possibly as part of an AMS system, so I would favour that system for Westminster and local elections as well.

“And I’m astonished that as a UKIP supporter you can remain so dispassionate about the principle that we are being told what electoral system to adopt by foreign powers. We are being told that our traditional system is not acceptable! I find it quite horrifuing in fact, and surely that particular treaty observation must be ripe for repatration to national states to decide?”

Perhaps I would be more horrified if it was a system such as STV or some other preferential type system which I despise. More to the point though, I would obviously object most strongly if the EU was to interfere in the way we elected our MPs or councillors, even if they wanted us to adopt a system I would support because it is of course none of their business. It’s a bit more difficult to argue that the method for electing the European parliament is no business of the EU. Obviously if one had one’s way in relation to Europe, there would not be a European parliament (or at least there would not be members from the UK sitting in it)

Also one of the flaws with FPTP is that the fewer constituencies used the more disproportionate the result is likely to be. Quite simply FPTP is not particularly well suited to the job of electing UK members of the EP, and I certainty wouldn’t favour a switch back to it.

The best adjustment to the current system would be to switch from closed to open lists. If I remember correctly the House of Lords attempted to amend the bill that brought in the closed list system for European elections to make the lists open, only for the government to insist that the lists be closed.

A shift to open lists would be welcome, but ultimately I would prefer a situation where the UK no longer held elections to the EP because it was no longer a member if the EU.

But, under FPTP, they’d be sure to have received fewer votes – people would be more likely to tactically vote Conservative or Labour, and, if we’d kept FPTP throughout, UKIP would be unlikely to have ever won any seats and would therefore have a lower profile (if it were to exist at all).

“I believe the recent referendum showed us what system people perfer!”

Out of FPTP and AV, perhaps. Given that the two options for European elections are the current (terrible, IMO) list system and STV, the referendum tell us nothing about what people would prefer (or whether they’d prefer to revert to FPTP).

You are on the very slippery slope that leads you to having to take very much the same view for other sorts of election as well.

And I’m astonished that as a UKIP supporter you can remain so dispassionate about the principle that we are being told what electoral system to adopt by foreign powers. We are being told that our traditional system is not acceptable! I find it quite horrifuing in fact, and surely that particular treaty observation must be ripe for repatration to national states to decide?

FPTP is the system this country uses. Europe should have been told to get used to it.

I take your point Pete but I’m sure with the proportion of votes they achieved in the last Euro election UKIP would have taken more than a couple of seats, although at the last Euro election under the FPTP system (1994 I think) I remember the Lib Dems were riding quite high in the polls re: popular vote but only took 2 seats, and the Tories, who were as unpopular as Labour at the last Euro election, did better than expected – as you saay Labour woukld have done in 2008

But you could make that complaint against any FPTP system – the best example being the general election of 1983 where the Liberals trailed Labour by a mere couple of % pts in the popular vote yet ended up with about 200 seats less

One thing is for certain – it has taken any enjoyment i used to get from watching the results come in – not that thar’s a valid reason to revert to FPTP of course

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_the_European_Union#Voting_system

I don’t have any issue with the list system as Brons and Griffin will lose their seats anyway, my main concern is with opportunist party switching as Kieran covered upthread.

You can thank the last Labour government for that and their bizarre decision to scrap the first-past-the-post system that worked perfectly, with the PR list system – which has done nothing but afforded extremists attention their ignorrant-minded policies scarcely deserve

How about a referendum to replace it with the system we used to have?

What a constrast to the EuroElections where party is everything and the candidate seems to count for next to nothing. I can’t even remember who my MEPs are unless I look them up online and I’m not sure which of them I would contact should I want to raise an issue with them.