114: Special Non-Emergency Election Episode

Helen, Adam and Andy try to answer your questions about the election - not 'who's going to win?' (everyone knows that) but the more interesting bits. Plus a special double quiz of Eyes past and campaigns present.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Watching Sunackered in the rain, with "Things can only get better" serenading him. Put about a kilo on the pile of evidence for my theory. That, we've taken a wrong turn down the trouser leg of time and into a satire universe!

[@andrewmartin4575]

Good to receive intelligent and objective insights .

[@rorymackie2221]

enjoying these podcasts - looking forward to the next hourly episodes :)

[@thebagelsproductions]

Trust the tories to whip somebody's seat from underneath them when they develop spinal problems.

[@AlexWorrell]

Tories usually like to be whipped 🤫

[@MsBeadee]

Enjoying your podcasts

[@Timlagor]

19:20 We wouldn't be hearing more from Farage. take a look at how much free airtime BBC have given him over the last 20 years sometime. We might get coverage of the Greens occasionally though.

[@mentality-monster]

Nigel Farage has a net negative popularity rating of minus 4%.

[@nigelbaldwin1038]

Excellent 👍🏼

[@somthingbrutal]

in the case of farrage, when was the last time he won any election, isn't he basically the less fun version of screaming lord such at this point

[@deetoher]

If the UK implemented proportional representation using multi-seat constituencies and single transferable vote (as implemented in Ireland) then candidates have to be "transfer friendly" so it discourages extreme candidates. If you had a 3 seat constituency, then winning candidates would need to reach 25% (+1 vote) of the preferences which means that a party with more than 50% of the vote could have 2 seats, but it is unlikely to have all 3. More seats mean a more proportional makeup of the parliament; Ireland has found 5 to be a sweet spot for max number of seats in a constituency.

[@TheOwlsarewatching606]

Bot

[@deetoher]

@TheOwlsarewatching606 just a glitchy internet connection resulting in double posting...

[@ausbrum]

There are 650 Commons MPs. So you'd have 3 seat constituencies ,bringing the total to 1050. Hello?Anyone there?

[@deetoher]

@@ausbrum if going for between 3 and 5 seater constituencies, you would have between 130 and 217 constituencies to give you 650 MPs. The constituencies would cover larger geographic areas.

[@etahenry3377]

Have to say,as a great admirer of STV,that it didn't keep out the extremists in the last local elections

[@jacquelynwilliams9627]

My favorite fish sun cream is mayonnaise

[@AndrewMcColl]

Mine is tartare

[@michaelburggraf2822]

Does it work for obstructed fishermen too? Like Michael Gove or Nigel Farage?

[@DingLiren-nw2vj]

I like a whipped egg white myself

[@henryjohnfacey8213]

Excellent thank you.

[@petern3363]

Loving the team and the content.

[@ohyeah2816]

I'm waiting for all the voting fraud accusations. We had that nonsense when the local Faragist (can't remember what it was called at the time) party lost in Peterborough. Vote Labour 👍🏼✌🏼️💖😊

[@jsquire5pa]

I think Helen doesn’t like losing 😂

[@Timlagor]

If we introduce Sortition instead of PR we never have to worry about a GE again

[@user-be9bn1hb1o]

PR sort of works in Holyrood. Tho SNP gave a couple of tricky practical issues to their Green colleagues like the Deposit Return Scheme and then watched them making a complete mess of them.

[@nickrails]

Pretty straight ahead analysis for a Private Eye joint.....wheres the satire?

[@taffyman6089]

No satire just reality, facts and the truth. The Tories have become clowns to the nation and it is all self inflicted. Enjoy!

[@saferbysound1602]

counterpoint. If its a genius idea the voters might not care who implements it. caring for the constituents my arse

[@PaulZazzi]

Love your work, do you think that PARTY POLITICS is a failing system

[@jackosbornerichardseon9095]

i never knew the fish dude was doing the private eye pod or i would have stated listning sooner liked subscribed

[@TheLastSongbird124]

Those booths are not wide enough for 60% of Americans!

[@davidatkinson7356]

(Durham in the North-West? Ed.)

[@jsquire5pa]

I’m not sure the guardian is exactly trying to push Labour leftward! .. in reality it’s an wxtremely centrist paper (ever more so with ciber in charge) and in fact very right wing on foreign policy …

[@simac3880]

The argument that representative voting is problematic becuase it would increase the Right vote is silly. It's disappointing to hear this ignorant point of view on this podcast. Representative voting represents the population. Yes, 16% of seats would be Reform. But 10% in the Parliament would be Green, etc. A representive system is reflective of the population as opposed to the backwards system than exists, where about a third of the population are unrepresented. Use your brains!

[@gavincassells7585]

I think Israel is the cautionary tale for the effect of smaller right wing parties on mainstream policy. The effect of big tent parties is that the extremes (both of them) get muted to some extent because there is a ceiling on their ability to attract enough of an electorate to exist on their own. Now, pressures can build and nothing helps an extreme party than being persistently out of power and having an issue to bang on about that voters care about. If you are a centrist, and Private Eye ostensibly is, this means that first past the post has some appeal. I disagree with it, but I don't think that Private Eye folk aren't using their brains, they are just displaying their own bias.

[@daphnepk]

Also odd to hear France as a cautionary tale about proportional systems. Their system is not proportional, but a kind of first past the post with the possibility of a second round

[@Timlagor]

What if Starmer loses his seat but Labour win a majority?

[@user-qc5mz8fc7x]

What if labour and starmer both lose that’s a win win for the uk!

[@CommodoreVic20]

​@@user-qc5mz8fc7xLOL Dream on

[@Timlagor]

@@user-qc5mz8fc7x Sure but I don't have any hope of Labour losing.

[@DingLiren-nw2vj]

Party strategists pick the seat their leader sits in to ensure a win and pour a lot of resources in. If he hadn't won but labour did, I imagine they'd go with the deputy PM or a leadership vote

[@richardbyrnes8398]

This is even more dull than the Newsagents. Lord Gnome out!

[@TheOwlsarewatching606]

Podcasting seems to be a terminal dose of boring stuff available anywhere

[@gerardferry3958]

you used to be funny

[@Paul--Nobody_Is_Out_To_Get_You]

First time for me listening/reading P.E. since my parents got the mag decades ago. I like their angle, wish they'd do more on youtube as nobody has to pay for this thing any more so I'm not buying the mag.

[@gerardferry3958]

@@Paul--Nobody_Is_Out_To_Get_You bit like sex

[@SuezWSuezW]

@@Paul--Nobody_Is_Out_To_Get_You If you're not paying, you're the product.

[@Paul--Nobody_Is_Out_To_Get_You]

@@SuezWSuezW Not logical. But maybe I was wrong too as PE is unique.

[@DC-wt2vi]

​@PaulHearder At under 40 quid for a whole year of print plus podcasts and archive pdfs, I think it's a no brainer to support just about the only free press left in my country. I restarted my subscription at the 2019 election, and it's kept me informed since.

[@Nanonude]

Clearly I am weird!