Sinn Fein: A case for electoral reform?
Yesterday I came across the assertion that the Conservatives would only need 322 seats in the House of Commons to gain a majority (four less than the "half-plus-one" principle). After a little digging I found out that one of the main reasons was that Sinn Fein MPs do not take their seats in the House owing to the abstentionist stance held by the party. My question is: should they be allowed to do this?
Since the election of Charles Nolan in 1908, Sinn Fein have practised a policy of abstention with regards to the UK Parliament. This policy stems from Sinn Fein's refusal to recognise the right of Westminster to rule and legislate over both Eire and Northern Ireland; in line with their ultimate aim of a united Ireland.
Of course, one of the main principles of a democratic system is that the voters are allowed to choose their representative and that their representative is then free to represent his or her constituents. If that means that they exercise the will of their constituents by refusing to sit in Parliament, then surely that should be allowed. The Sinn Fein representatives will have made their abstentionist stance perfectly clear, and the voters will know that should Sinn Fein win the seat, they will effectively have no representative in Parliament.
However, under the First Past The Post system it really is not as simple as that.
One of the oft-cited criticisms of FPTP is that often the majority of the voters in a seat will not have voted for the elected Member. In the 2005 UK General Election, 64.7% did not want a Labour government. The thing is, though, that although the vast majority of these people may not have got the MP they would have wanted; they still have an MP who should be working for the constituency as a whole and representing the views of all their constituents.
In a Sinn Fein held constituency, this all changes.
Sinn Fein currently hold five constituencies in Northern Ireland; Belfast West, West Tyrone, Newry and Armagh, Mid Ulster and Fermanagh & South Tyrone. In none of these seats (with the exception of Belfast West (70.5%)) have they polled over half the vote. Across the five constituencies, their average vote-share is 47.3%. This suggests that in the majority of these constituencies, the majority of the electorate actually want a say in the House of Commons.
In total, across the five constituencies, 120,445 people voted for parties other than Sinn Fein. This equates to almost seven percent of the entire population of Northern Ireland, who would otherwise have a say in UK politics, who have been denied a voice by the actions of Sinn Fein. The main problem here is that no back-up system exists to provide a voice for those who wish to air their opinions.
As well as this, a perverse juxtaposition of the West Lothian Problem is created, whereby - far from having their MP vote on matters that do not concern them - Northern Irish constituents do not have their best interests represented in key votes.
Of course, Sinn Fein are perfectly entitled to refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of the House of Commons over Ireland as a whole; but do they not lend legitimacy to the entire system simply by their participating in the elections of this institution? Would their purpose not be better served either by taking their seats and adopting a pro-united-Ireland stance in the House, or even by refusing to have anything at all to do with the system?
What I believe is needed here is an electoral reform.
The Liberal Democrats have oft pleaded the case for a form of proportional representation, whilst barely able to disguise it as an attempt to skew the UK political system in their favour. It is my opinion that the silenced majority in Northern Ireland are far more deserving recipients of such reforms. At the end of the day, if we persist with a situation whereby the majority are so easily silenced by a minority, then surely such as system is no better than the Communist brand of "democracy" so prevalent in the 70s and 80s.
Since the election of Charles Nolan in 1908, Sinn Fein have practised a policy of abstention with regards to the UK Parliament. This policy stems from Sinn Fein's refusal to recognise the right of Westminster to rule and legislate over both Eire and Northern Ireland; in line with their ultimate aim of a united Ireland.
Of course, one of the main principles of a democratic system is that the voters are allowed to choose their representative and that their representative is then free to represent his or her constituents. If that means that they exercise the will of their constituents by refusing to sit in Parliament, then surely that should be allowed. The Sinn Fein representatives will have made their abstentionist stance perfectly clear, and the voters will know that should Sinn Fein win the seat, they will effectively have no representative in Parliament.
However, under the First Past The Post system it really is not as simple as that.
One of the oft-cited criticisms of FPTP is that often the majority of the voters in a seat will not have voted for the elected Member. In the 2005 UK General Election, 64.7% did not want a Labour government. The thing is, though, that although the vast majority of these people may not have got the MP they would have wanted; they still have an MP who should be working for the constituency as a whole and representing the views of all their constituents.
In a Sinn Fein held constituency, this all changes.
Sinn Fein currently hold five constituencies in Northern Ireland; Belfast West, West Tyrone, Newry and Armagh, Mid Ulster and Fermanagh & South Tyrone. In none of these seats (with the exception of Belfast West (70.5%)) have they polled over half the vote. Across the five constituencies, their average vote-share is 47.3%. This suggests that in the majority of these constituencies, the majority of the electorate actually want a say in the House of Commons.
In total, across the five constituencies, 120,445 people voted for parties other than Sinn Fein. This equates to almost seven percent of the entire population of Northern Ireland, who would otherwise have a say in UK politics, who have been denied a voice by the actions of Sinn Fein. The main problem here is that no back-up system exists to provide a voice for those who wish to air their opinions.
As well as this, a perverse juxtaposition of the West Lothian Problem is created, whereby - far from having their MP vote on matters that do not concern them - Northern Irish constituents do not have their best interests represented in key votes.
Of course, Sinn Fein are perfectly entitled to refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of the House of Commons over Ireland as a whole; but do they not lend legitimacy to the entire system simply by their participating in the elections of this institution? Would their purpose not be better served either by taking their seats and adopting a pro-united-Ireland stance in the House, or even by refusing to have anything at all to do with the system?
What I believe is needed here is an electoral reform.
The Liberal Democrats have oft pleaded the case for a form of proportional representation, whilst barely able to disguise it as an attempt to skew the UK political system in their favour. It is my opinion that the silenced majority in Northern Ireland are far more deserving recipients of such reforms. At the end of the day, if we persist with a situation whereby the majority are so easily silenced by a minority, then surely such as system is no better than the Communist brand of "democracy" so prevalent in the 70s and 80s.
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7%? Is that the proportion of the whole populaion? Problem is people 0-17 don't vote? Everyone else gets a chance to vote. If they choose not to, that's up to them. But surely that means that most who don't, don't want to participate in the process?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteYes, without knowing the size of the entire electorate in Northern Ireland I can only base my statistics upon the whole population. Obviously if you take out those aged 0-17 then the percentage of the population grows.
I don't see where your comments about those who don't wish to vote fit in with the article. The point I am making here is that 7% (or more, depending on which figures you use) of the Northern Irish population want to have a say in what goes on in Westminster, but are denied it by the abstentionist policy of Sinn Fein.