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Electing The Next Prime Minister

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ichkeria | 12:10 Fri 26th Feb 2016 | News
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The next Prime Minister of the U.K. will be elected by members of the Tory Party. Is it worth non members of that party, including supporters of other parties, joining the Tories at least temporarily so that they can have their say in this?
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Canary has made a good point here............what if the constituents were fairly evenly divided on the EU issue, or any other issue for that matter ?

We can see that there is a wide range of opinion on our continued Membership of the EU....it isn't just Tory voters that want to come out, although I would guess they would compile the majority of no votes.
AOG....no...meant honestly !

As you can see I have reinstated the capital C in his name. I still remain opposed to almost all of his policies, but I am confident that he will resign as PM before May 2020. There are lots of Tory MPs that I dislike but Dave isn't one of them....I just disagree with him.
“This party/constituency dilemma takes on a new dimension with the EU referendum canvassing. Do Cameron's constituents want to stay in? Do Johnson's constituents want to come out?”

It really doesn’t matter because, fortunately, the issue will not be decided by MPs but by the electorate.

On issues that are determined by MPs it would be impossible for them to judge exactly the feelings of all their constituents on every matter (unless they held a mini referendum on every issue). They would have to use their judgement. At present they don’t. It is true many of them do have a feel for the view of their voters. But unless those views happen to coincide with the “party line” their constituents are most unlikely to see their MP vote in accordance with their wishes.
Dave had to give his MPs freedom over the referendom - if he had attempted to make them support the 'in' campaign he would have been humiliated by the 'outs' refusing to comply.
One question which has not been answered is this:

Is the referendum binding? If there is a narrow vote for Out, is Cameron forced to abide by it?
///It really doesn’t matter ///

You've missed my point I think nj. If the majority of constituents want OUT, then by canvassing IN the MP is going against the constituents wishes (and vice versa of course). I agree the vote will sort it out - but would the MP then change his/her view - I doubt it, therefore should possibly be de-selected. Now there's a thought.
Jack....I don't the result is binding, although there is a biggish majority one way or the other, it will be difficult for Dave to ignore it.

But if its 49%-51%.......I am not so sure. There won't minor Parties to come to the rescue, as in a General Election.

Its going to be a interesting few months, that's for sure !
Remember the capital punishment debate? At the time polls suggested that the majority of electors were 'for' but MPs voted against.
Mcbear..Paddy Power has the following odds for the Referendum ::

IN :::::::1/3
OUT :::::9/4
People who opt to vote along party lines do so at their own choice, but it is as big a misuse of the system as tactical voting is. Whatever their reason for where they cast their vote is, the actuality is that they are electing a local representative and if they opt to vote for someone who does not intend to represent their views, that is their own fault.

Meanwhile, of course the voter does not vote for a PM, but the suggestion is to become members of the party in the hope that the leader of the party is affected by paid up members. In the hope that the party they joined will end up having their leader as PM.

But folk would have to pick the right party to even get the chance to influence. In practice this would be futile.
“You've missed my point I think nj.”

I probably have, canary, in which case I apologise. But the referendum is not the same as MPs voting on an issue. I assume you mean that if my MP campaigns for the “Stay” camp whilst most voters in my patch want to leave he is going against our wishes. I suppose he is, but fortunately his campaigning will be no more than that – an exercise in persuasion. Unlike a Parliamentary vote, at the end of the campaign it is we the electorate who decide, not MPs.

As far as the vote being binding, Mr Cameron and Mr Juncker have both said that there will be no opportunity for a second vote. I’m absolutely sure that’s true in the event of a “Stay” majority (however narrow). I’m by no means convinced it will be so in the event of a “Leave” vote (especially one with a narrow majority). The EU has a habit of insisting on second and subsequent plebiscites until the “right” answer is secured. If that happens, even if I had voted to remain (which is as likely as me winning a gold medal at this year’s Olympics) I would vote to leave. Such an insistence by the EU would provide even more evidence (if any were ever needed) that the last people to be considered by the EU are nuisance voters.

But I think we've somewhat strayed from ichy's question :-)
On R4 this lunchtime I heard the chap (forgotten his name) who is Chairman of the Conservative Constituency Associations (approx. title - he's the one who threatened not to canvass because of DC's contempt) say that after a poll they had found that over 70% of Tory activists were pro-Brexit. MPs surely don't have a right to oppose the people they were elected to represent, do they? (Their own personal vote is up to them of course.) I've a feeling I'm being unusually naïve, however.
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" But I think we've somewhat strayed from ichy's question :-) "

No worries NJ: I am enjoying this discussion!
"MPs surely don't have a right to oppose the people they were elected to represent, do they?"

Under the party system they very often do, jourdain.

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