The worlds' most powerful leader marches on...

[EFLImpudence]

Charles will carry on being a thorn in peoples side, until he becomes King (if he ever does of course) and then he'll keep his views pretty much to himself. Cameron let slip that the Queen was pleased at the Brexit result, and she was not pleased that he'd let her private views become public knowledge. The Queen is just a figure head, nothing more. She doesn't have any say in the running of government, nor anything to do with the crown estates. She signs things put in front of her, and knows her place in the scheme of things.

Well, that's what we are told.

As to weekly visits from the PM, I believe he updates her on the current state of things, but she's politically neutral, and just goes along with what Parliment suggests, even if she may express her view on things.

I don't want to shock you too much, but the P.M. is a lady - like the Queen.

So, you think she (and her friends) have no influence at all. I just don't believe it.

 

[JohnD]

the P.M. is a lady - like the Queen.

No, she's a woman, and is not like the Queen.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Now, that is starting an argument just for the sake of it.

 

[Doggit]

And therein lies the Problem with JohnD. Always point out the obvious simply because you can, never miss the opportunity to start an argument whenever possible, and always denigrate those that don't agree with you.

Truth be told EFL, you could well be right, I was going to add in the last post, that not being there, I couldn't tell you what really goes on, but so what if she does make comments, and give advice, look what we're doing on here, and some take it, and others don't.

 

[transam]

Merkel never won the election

No German politician since the 1950's has won a German general election


all coalition government , dirty deals over beer & sandwiches

& than some grizzle about the conservatives & the D.U.P coalition

 

[noseall]

Merkel never won the election

Semantics.

She is still the boss and everyone knows it. Especially Theresa.

 

[IWalkLikeHimaMartian]

Merkel never won the election

No German politician since the 1950's has won a German general election


all coalition government , dirty deals over beer & sandwiches

& than some grizzle about the conservatives & the D.U.P coalition

It is not possible for a politician to 'win' a German general election because only half of the seats are 'constituency' seats. The other half are made up by proportional representation.
Therefore the best that any politician could possibly achieve, if they won all constituency seats is 50% of the total available seats.

 

[transam]

Semantics.

She is still the boss and everyone knows it. Especially Theresa.

boss of a coalition

 

[Doggit]

if they won all constituency seats is 50% of the total available seats

But if they won all the constituency seats - which would then give them the 50% - wouldn't they also get further seats on the party basis.

 

[Judy in the sky]

It is not possible for a politician to 'win' a German general election because only half of the seats are 'constituency' seats. The other half are made up by proportional representation.
Therefore the best that any politician could possibly achieve, if they won all constituency seats is 50% of the total available seats.

Proof that PR just doesn't work.

 

[IWalkLikeHimaMartian]

But if they won all the constituency seats - which would then give them the 50% - wouldn't they also get further seats on the party basis.

Undoubtedly, but those seats would be allocated by the system, rather than any politician 'winning' them on merit.
The proportional representation allocation is according to the number (or percentage) of votes each party received.
There is (albeit unlikely) possibility that the first-past-the-post system returning all of the constituency seats, but the proportional representation only allocating a few seats to the party that 'won' the election. But it is highly unlikely that any party/politician would win all the constituency seats.
It is why there has always been a coalition governing in Germany, since the creation of the system.
It is also why Germany does not suffer the wild political swings that the UK system produces.

It was in the context of a politician 'winning' the election that I stated that it is not possible for a politician to 'win' a German election.

As another bit of information, the official opposition is allocated 'political privileges',such as finance, airtime, etc.
It is why the SPD have decided not to go into coalition again with Merkel, because they want the official opposition status, which would be lost if they entered into a coalition, and AfD would become the official opposition party.

BTW, Merkel won 185 seats out of 298, but was only allocated 15 seats under the PR system.
SPD won 59 seats but were allocated 94 seats under PR.
AfD won 3 seats but were allocated 91 seats under PR.

 

[Notch7]

Undoubtedly, but those seats would be allocated by the system, rather than any politician 'winning' them on merit.
The proportional representation allocation is according to the number (or percentage) of votes each party received.
There is (albeit unlikely) possibility that the first-past-the-post system returning all of the constituency seats, but the proportional representation only allocating a few seats to the party that 'won' the election. But it is highly unlikely that any party/politician would win all the constituency seats.
It is why there has always been a coalition governing in Germany, since the creation of the system.
It is also why Germany does not suffer the wild political swings that the UK system produces.

It was in the context of a politician 'winning' the election that I stated that it is not possible for a politician to 'win' a German election.

As another bit of information, the official opposition is allocated 'political privileges',such as finance, airtime, etc.
It is why the SPD have decided not to go into coalition again with Merkel, because they want the official opposition status, which would be lost if they entered into a coalition, and AfD would become the official opposition party.

BTW, Merkel won 185 seats out of 298, but was only allocated 15 seats under the PR system.
SPD won 59 seats but were allocated 94 seats under PR.
AfD won 3 seats but were allocated 91 seats under PR.

Thats very interesting.

Do you think the UK would benefit from a different voting system? To me it seems unfair that the present system doesnt really allow any voice to a third party or minority party. Voters end up wasting votes or tactical voting.

 

[IWalkLikeHimaMartian]

Do you think the UK would benefit from a different voting system?

As I have intimated, I do think the German electoral system has some built-in benefits for the smaller parties, and for the continuity of political governance.
However, one tweak I would like to see, is for all the opposition parties to be allocated some of the advantages, perhaps on a sliding scale, according to their percentage representation in parliament.
This also holds partly for UK parliament. There are some benefits already, in UK, on a sliding scale, attributed to all opposition parties, (at least 2 MPs)

 

[JohnD]

So both you (Transam) and Doggit have used the claim about "a lot on this site" calling for chopping people's legs (or knees) off.

So I ask both of you to provide a few examples (if true)

I do realise that it may not be true, in which case you will be unable to provide examples...

Obviously not true.

It's a pity these people feel no qualms in throwing made-up stories around.

 

[Doggit]

It's a pity these people feel no qualms in throwing made-up stories around.

It's a pitty that JohnD uses the word "ban", and then queries me when I use it, yet doesn't see the irony and hypocricy when he demands we show proof of comments we make.