General Politics Discussion

[plam]

MMP would be a nice compromise and works well in NZ. We could still have an MP Kitchener (but maybe only one) and then there would be a pool of provincially-elected MPs based on the percentage of party vote.

The fact that I can't point to an MP in Parliament and say who they represent is off-putting to me. I know that my MP already barely represents me, but it is a part of the system that I think is easy to understand for most people. Random party hacks in the house that got their seats through a bit of math? Not as palatable (to me, at least).

I guess both tomh and I didn't really explain how MMP works in NZ. Here's the deal. You get two votes: a party vote and a riding (electorate in NZ-speak) vote. There are 72 ridings and 120 seats. So most MPs are actually riding MPs. Then, they go and tally the percentages of party votes, and assign the 48 remaining seats so that the distribution of MPs in the House matches the party vote. The assignment is based on the list, which is determined by the party leader---so it consolidates party leader power to some extent.

In NZ, my MP for Wellington Central is Grant Robertson, who is the local equivalent of Chrystia Freeland, being deputy PM & finance minister. NZ is small, so the riding had a turnout of 48k in the previous election, which was 89% of eligible voters. Also running in Wellington Central were 3 other parties who returned to Parliament on their lists, including the Green party co-leader.