Blergh.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

In fact, in any system of proportional representation where constituencies elect fewer than maybe 12 seats each.

The brainless should not be in banking. — Willem Buitler

That worked for almost 12 years.

Until the party was good in the polls.

It's difficult for me to understand why a party would choose to cede power

That os not a necessary consequence. The default wqould be a replacement of the PM, with the new PM forming a new government from the same party.

But, if not, those who jumped ship can hope to not go under with the election loss, and return to the helm in opposition.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

The PM must be the leader of the Party that holds the majority of seats in Parliament.

Well thats only mostly true. If brown quits, then its up to the replacement to convince the queen that he can form a government, and has enough support in the sitting MPs if not, then a new election is called.

This would however be a massive constitutional crisis. Which is one thing that Brown can threaten to keep the party in line.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Moral outrage can't govern a nation.

Sometimes it can.  This Government has bizarrely on some issues totally ignored public opinion but on many others been swayed by public opinion in ridiculous ways.  I really don't understand the choices that have been made.  

In this case, public outrage is leading to reform of our political system, it has put this firmly on the agenda and a key issue.

I don't believe Obama & half the Senate are having gay orgies.

Americans are such idealists!

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

Sillyness aside, my point is that what constitutes a scandal differs from country to country. US politicians are not supposed to have extra-marital affairs, especially not of the non-heterosexual kind. From my cultural setting this is absurd, swedish politicians has affairs and divorce and remarry and such without it hardly getting headlines.

And precisely because of the undemocratic brittish party system, there is not a pressure on them to line their pockets for the next election in the same way as in the US. So when they are found with their hands deep down in the cookie-yar, in the middle of a financial crises, then this is the result.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

One member, one vote is for Assembly Member candidates from the shortlist (branches nominate candidates to the shortlist).  MEPs are selected by vetting panels.  Then the constituency meetings are asked to approve this.

Would anyone like a diary on the AM selection process we've been going through here?

Recently with our local council elections two people in my branch wanted to stand as councillor (they got on the on the shortlist following vetting).  The branch interviewed both (and could have interviewed others on the shortlist who lived outside the boundaries of our ward but chose not to.)  We chose one and the other kicked off a huge fuss over it and then stood as a candidate anyway. He was expelled from the party for doing that, and stood as an Independent which required no vetting (and lost).

Just like anyone can run as third party candidate in a US presidential race. That just won't win, that's all.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

Most elections are like the Presidential election.  First, you have to collect a certain number of signatures to get on the ballot.  Those signatures have to be from people who live in the place you are running to represent.  Then you get on a Primary ballot, and voters go to the polls and vote for a nominee.  Any who is registered to vote can vote in the Primary, but in most cases, you can only vote in the Primary of one Party (so you can't choose who will represent your opposition.)  After the Primary elections are held and the nominations are official, the nominees run in a general election.  This is the case for almost all elections, at all levels of government.  But it varies from state to state.  Some states or offices have non-partisan elections, which means you run on your credentials, etc. and not party affiliation.

Hang on, you skipped the part where they throw half the black folks off the voter rolls.  Or is that just a Florida thing?

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

It was instructive to follow Bill Wyatt - t-shirt salesman from California - that tried to run against George Bush in the 2004 republican primaries. In most states there was no way for him to enter as the primaries had already been decided by local party leadership in favor of Bush. The motivation tended to be that no primary was necessary as there were no other candidates, since none had been reported in the newspapers.

So there is a vetting, it just looks different.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

Under mixed member proportional representation a type of additional member system[24][25] Forty of the AMs are elected from single-member constituencies on a plurality voting system (or first past the post) basis, the constituencies being equivalent to those used for the House of Commons and twenty AMs are elected from regional closed lists using an alternative party vote.[26] There are five regions Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West (these are the same as the pre 1999 European Parliament constituencies for Wales), each of which returns four members.[26] The additional members produce a degree of proportionality within each region.[26] Whereas voters can choose any regional party list irrespective of their party vote in the constituency election, list AMs are not elected independently of the constituency element, rather elected constituency AMs are deemed to be pre-elected list representatives for the purposes of calculating remainders in the d'Hondt method.[26] Overall proportionality is limited by the low proportion of list members (33% of the Assembly compared to 43% in the Scottish Parliament and 50% in the German Bundestag) and the regionalisation of the list element.[27] Consequently the Assembly as a whole has a greater degree of proportionality (based on proportions in the list elections) than the plurality voting system used for UK parliamentary elections, but still deviates somewhat from proportionality.[27]