Councillor McAsh defects to the Greens

[Moovart]

6 hours ago, Blah Blah said:

Morally they should, but we don't actually vote for parties in our electoral system. We vote for a parliamentary (or council) representative.

I think that's a big assumption.  Many people vote for the candidate precisely because they are a member of a particular party and represent that party's policiies.  I personally didn't know who McAsh was in the last election, but I knew what party he represented.  When politicians don't act "morally" what are we to think of them and their motivations?

But I think there will be people who want to vote Labour, don't know that McAsh has defected and accidentally vote Green precisely because they do vote for the name.  Yes, you could say they need to read the ballot paper more carefully but it's possible to see one thing and not notice another.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, Moovart said:

But I think there will be people who want to vote Labour, don't know that McAsh has defected and accidentally vote Green precisely because they do vote for the name.  Yes, you could say they need to read the ballot paper more carefully but it's possible to see one thing and not notice another.

I would hope that is extremely unlikely.

If people accidentally vote for someone, that's their own fault, isn't it?

[Blah Blah]

4 hours ago, Moovart said:

I think that's a big assumption.  Many people vote for the candidate precisely because they are a member of a particular party and represent that party's policiies.  

Yes they do, but that is not the core tenet of representative democracy. At that level, we are voting for a parliamentary representative, irregardless of whether parties exist or not. It's why candidates can stand as independents.