i admit i'm ignorant about the election process how does it work in the uk?
I mean i understand a party like labour can be in power yet it doesn't mean ull have labour running ur local bourough, it could be conservatives for example.
Also if this is a democracy and the ppl choose their leaders how can Gordon Brown become leader without an election?Do our votes really matter or is this democracy thing a total farce making ppl think they're choosing their leaders, when in actual fact they're not ? I understand he's become leader?
There are two main types of election: local and general.
In local elections you can vote for a single representative for your area in the county or district council, or unitary authority in Scotland. Sometimes you get to rank more than one choice. The timing of local elections is a little complicated as some areas call a by-election at different times, say if a councillor steps down, and also because many councils have a system whereby the councillors are elected at different stages. Local elections are valid for up to four years. In my opinion technology will soon present a superior system whereby you can update your vote and when the percentages change past a certain point a deadline is set on deciding the new make-up instead of fixed campaigns and a single election day. I'm not sure if that will work for general elections as the government could be too unstable, but something like that seems sensible. Like it would be dreadful to have to vote every time the government was in the middle of something controversial, but great on a local level.
In a general election you can vote for someone to represent your constituency in Parliament. The leader of the majority party is appointed PM by the Queen. A general election is valid for up to five years, hence for now the incoming Labour leader does not need to be voted in. I agree that since we vote not just for a party but for it's composition this part doesn't seem especially democratic, but it's not such a bad system as it combines a certain amount of flexibility and stability for the government with the public's right to choose. Those countries where the parliament is always made up of sparring coalitions or where elections are frequent due to votes of no confidence are less fortunate.
In Scottish elections they vote twice. One vote is for someone to represent the constituency and the other for candidates to represent the region. The Scottish Parliament is made up of a combination of the two results. This year it was complicated as local elections fell on the same day.
There is a third major type of election, which is elections to the European Parliament, but being reluctant to acknowledge Europe's power we haven't yet learned to take that seriously. They take place every five years by way of elections to one of 12 regional assemblies, each of which has up to ten MEPs (Mindless Euro Peans).
Hope that helps.
[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]
thanks for that info 100.
so how long before the next general election then? Gordon Brown doesn't seem very popular with the public...
The last elections were two years ago. We might have to wait until 2010. European elections are in Summer 2009 so it is fairly likely a general election will be coupled with that. It depends if, faced with low popularity, Brown decides to open up a party vote, send the public to the polls or enjoy his glory for as long as possible. Unless they suffer a remarkable number of parliamentary by-election losses, Labour's present majority should be just enough to let him do that. I guess two years is not really so long to wait.
[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]