Closed party lists aren’t an essential feature of PR. For example the Dáil Éireann uses STV with multi-member constituencies. Irish voters still vote for individual candidates; not a party list.
Actually, you’re right. It was. There was a party in Belfast from the 1890s called the Belfast Labour Party, which was attached to the Labour Representation Committee/Labour Party in Britain. But then after Connolly’s Irish Labour Party was formed in 1912, the British Labour Party backed his party as the only official Labour Party in Ireland.
The Belfast Labour Party didn’t like that for various reasons (It had historical primacy, the Belfast party was mostly Protestant and opposed to independence, Connolly’s party was nationalist and largely Catholic, and so on), so they split off and became independent. They then merged with a few other independent parties and formed the Northern Ireland Labour Party. But I think they had some sort of understanding with the British Labour Party, and the British Labour Party refused to stand candidates in NI.
It was near the end of the Major government, after defections and resignations left the Tories with just below a majority government.
They are fanatics and until a while ago associated with terrorist organizations.
Anyways good to see the disunionist parties (SNP, and Plaid Cymru) not make too many gains. If the LibDems form a coalition with Labour it will be almost certainly weak and unpopular as the largest party in Parliament will not be in the majority government. If the Tories had gotten only twenty more seats Britain would be in a far better position…
Goodness me! Perhaps you could tell us more about this, you loveable young scamp.
Really, it’s not as though it was a landslide election for the Tories. Whichever party gets its boot past the door will likely be weak and unpopular. Another election before the year’s out, anyone?
Thank you for this - one of my best laughs of the day. 
Guaranteed. I just can’t see a stable coalition here in any form. Con/Lib just ain’t going to work, both parties are loose collectives, and containing such divergent viewpoints on core principles between the two to sustain even a modest compromise strikes me as impossible. Lab/Lib/SDLP plus a nod and wink agreement with SNP and PC is a bit more likely but it’s basically unmanageable.
It’s not as though the Lib Dems have enough seats to make them a real partner, though. More than likely they’ll settle for electoral reform, and let the Conservatives get on with pushing the rest of their policies.
That would, after all, still be more influence than they’ve had in the last 30 years - and genuine electoral reform will do more for them in the long run (and for Britain, frankly) than any policy they could go after right now.
It’s the settling for electoral reform bit that is the first of many, many Con/Lib differences. First hurdle is insurmountable.
I’d butt in on the flow to nominate this thread as one of the best in SDMB history.
Passion, humour, analysis, philosophy, history, context, self regulating hijacks and diversions, a mood that swung with the unfolding election results, ignorance fought, no injuries necessitating a band-aid, and we still don’t know the winners after nearly 700 posts.
Well played all participants. I dips me lid to youse all.
I’ll have what penultima thule is having. 
Me too. I think I’ve broken my internal clock, and probably my brain - it’s 6:15 here and I was quite excited a few moments ago by getting a tweet from Brent Spiner. Is it along or across the wrists? In a warm bath, with a bottle of gin.
Now this Curtis-directed snark has the official Nancarrow seal of approval.
What worries me, is, there IS just enough common ground between the LibDems and Conservatives, that Dave might just say, ok look you can have every damn thing you want if you just shut up about PR. Or perhaps, you can have every damn thing you want AND a referendum, but no more, on PR, and if you’ll just excuse me I have to go make a call to my friends at the Daily Mail… and there’s a slim possibility Clegg might be stupid, spineless or rotten enough to go along with it.
In which case just having another damn election within a year would be a much preferable option. Of course then you’ll have “Clegg destroyed British government for a year ZOMG!!!” headlines guaranteed from certain quarters, and a Conservative majority shortly later. On the other hand, at least it will make Curtis happy, and what price a child’s laughter?
We’re fucked, aren’t we?
Nah, I can’t see it, a Lib-Con pact would incense the core base - I’d be bloody furious if I’d voted LibDem and they got into bed with that repulsive lot, and I’ve heard that many Tories feel the same. The voters would desert the LibDems in favour of Labour at the next (probably imminent) election if they did that.
I think Cameron’s hanging on for a minority government.
Either way, Brown is toast. So, D. Miliband or Balls? Or a hospital pass/caretaker job to Alan?
Brown is now toast no doubt, the only question is how long’s he going to remain in the toaster for?
Don’t think Balls has much of a shot. He was barely re-elected with a margin of only a few hundred votes and generally doesn’t present very well, his last appearance on Question Time was pretty poor.
It would be a major surprise if Ed Balls was considered for the leadership - he’s not just a clone of Brown in terms of policy, but he has the same abrasive style that would turn voters away in droves. They’s see Balls and just remember Brown. Miliband is probably the best choice now, although I don’t like him myself. A child of politics, he has a sort of dry oleaginy that puts me in mind of Tony Blair. Anyhow, the party could basically do with some time in opposition to regenerate and sort out these issues.
He’s already Brown - how much longer does he need?
Did anyone notice that Michelle Gildernew, SF, won her seat in Fermanagh by 4 votes ?! 21304 to 21300. Surely that is well within the counting error, it’s like two hundreths of a percent difference. Seems very unfair to give her the nod on what is basically a dead heat, but I guess a decision has to be made.
Plus Balls’ seat is now a super-marginal constituency.
That’s why there are recounts and scrutineers.