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All party front bench
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A few times in our history and usually only during a crisis such as a war we have seen the front bench composed of politicians from a mixture of parties.
In every government including today's and the last one we heard of some politicians who become in charge of a department of not being able to cope, found the job difficult perhaps because of a lack experience or not knowing enough about the area chosen to manage ie health/economy.
Surely there must come a time when party politics is secondary and a prime minister will pick the MP most suited to run a department based on his/her expertise and knowledge regardless of what party he/she comes from. I also don't see why the opposition can't have a mixture of MPs in the shadow government who can debate sensibly about topics of concern such as the NHS.
In every government including today's and the last one we heard of some politicians who become in charge of a department of not being able to cope, found the job difficult perhaps because of a lack experience or not knowing enough about the area chosen to manage ie health/economy.
Surely there must come a time when party politics is secondary and a prime minister will pick the MP most suited to run a department based on his/her expertise and knowledge regardless of what party he/she comes from. I also don't see why the opposition can't have a mixture of MPs in the shadow government who can debate sensibly about topics of concern such as the NHS.
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"debate sensibly" - that would be a first for the House of Commons.
I would also change the voting procedure I realise PR is dead although I was in favour. If we are to continue as it is then have two different elections. One vote should be cast for Prime Minister and have a separate vote for the MP of ones area.
Who ever wins the prime minister election then has to form a government even if the party he/she belongs to has the least party members. I would like to see the end of party politics if I am being honest....
Also it would be interesting regarding local elections. Vote on the best MP for ones area not necessary for political party.
Interesting idea, but does it happen anywhere else in the world? - The only countries that I can think of that dont have party politics as we know it are one-party dictatorships.
I would also love to see the power of political parties dismantled, although I don't know how. The proposals Cleggy came up with, for example, would have entrenched party power by using party lists.
If you look at the parties we have at the moment there is very little difference between them as they all clamour for centre ground.
Personally I don't think we are going to get rid of the political parties however I would like to see more cooperation less confrontation - politicians looking for solutions to improve the country.
Well thats where the votes are - the structure of the UK system involves high barriers to entry so you get very few fringe parties making a breakthrough.
If you want to see a wider range of political views represented then some form of PR could give that - but then that system comes with severe drawbacks as well.
I think simply by having a separate vote for the MP would do that. It could give rise for independents to enter politics. The first vote would be for the prime minister which unfortunately would be party political. But the seats of constituencies may not follow in the same patten depending on the need of an area. Just because a person voted Tory for prime minister doesn't mean they will vote Tory again for the local MP depending on the issues.
I would I have been interested to see how PR would work whether indeed it does make a change to our political system but unfortunately I don't see it ever happening.
You're basically advocating a Presidential system of government, but I agree. I think it works well in the US to have the executive split off from the legislator. Also I think it increases democracy as the Prime Minister sets the vast majority of the government's agenda and it's not right that they can be changed mid term without any say from the public.
It makes you wonder though how that would play out in today's political environment. I can't see Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg or even David Cameron invoking much enthusiasm in a nationwide PM campaign. I think it's much more likely you'd see people like Lord Sugar, Boris Johnson and maybe even actors like Hugh Grant standing.
Edit - Though I should add, it's a bit hypocritical of us on DS arguing about having 'less confrontational' politics when all we do every day is shout at each other on the basis of our own politically biased ideologies. I personally believe that parliament just reflects the political environment we live in. Maybe once we've learnt to debate things sensibly amongst ourselves we can expect our politicians to do the same.
... and one-system dictatorships, where the people get no choice between the socio-economic model adopted by the party/parties of the state.
The old Soviet Union and the US spring to mind as typical examples of this.
I agree, unfortunately it will never work with Labour and the Conservatives holding a duopoly on thge reigns of power. Both parties are pathalogically incapable of placing the needs of the country above the needs of the party and their incessant tribal squabbles.
Under it's current set up our "democracy" serves only to further the personal ambitions and ideologies of party hacks and the country comes a distant 2nd.
Yeah, but you've got to vote Labour/Conservative as otherwise Conservative/Labour will get in!
Yes that's one of the facets of our corrupt FPTP system that's maintained the duopoly for generations.
And as long as people refuse to see that both sides are as bad as the other and it doesn't matter which one gets in then mugs will continue to vote for their "least worst" of the two.
As soon as enough people say "a plague on both your houses" and start voting elsewhere (anywhere else TBH) then the house of cards will start to crumble.
There is nothing stopping you voting that way now. In fact, that's the way many people do vote.
If my local MP was doing a good job then I'd consider voting for him/her regardless of their party affiliation.
I do - i look to vote for an independent. Where I live everyone votes Labour because they want a Labour government even though the MP has been a poor administrator. Unfortunately this is not unique to my area. When people look at the ballot box most will look for the political party not for the candidates name.