#singletransferablevote — Public Fediverse posts

HOW WALES VOTES: Swansea MS Mike Hedges says new Senedd election system “does not work” — and “any system is better than the one we used”

Mike Hedges, the Labour MS for Gŵyr Abertawe — the constituency covering Swansea and Gower — has called for an open public discussion on the way Wales elects its Senedd Members, saying the new voting system “does not work.”

The May 2026 election was the first held under Wales’s reformed electoral system, which expanded the Senedd from 60 to 96 Members and introduced a fully proportional model based on 16 constituencies, each electing six Members from closed party lists.

Hedges, who was re-elected in Gŵyr Abertawe, says the system failed on its own terms.

“The new system does not work — it was meant to be proportional but it was not,” he said. “The electorate generally did not understand it.”

His central concern is tactical voting. Hedges argues the election effectively became a two-party contest between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, and that this squeezed the vote going to everyone else.

“We did not have tactical voting — we had voters choosing between two parties, which depressed the votes of the other parties,” he said. “Those who thought they were voting tactically were actually not voting tactically. It did not work in five of the sixteen seats.”

He believes the effect was decisive in his own constituency, where he says fewer than 2,000 votes determined the final seat.

“Take 2,000 off one party and add it to another,” he said, expressing confidence in the figure. He argued that if Reform votes in the constituency had instead gone to the Conservatives, it would have produced a Conservative seat.

The criticism is notable coming from a Member elected under the very system he is attacking. Hedges took one of the six Gŵyr Abertawe seats, while Plaid Cymru took three and Reform UK two, as Labour‘s vote share across Wales fell to third behind both parties.

On the solution, Hedges is clear that change is needed — but stops short of backing the alternative favoured by the new Plaid Cymru government.

Asked whether he would support a move to the Single Transferable Vote — which Plaid committed in its 2026 manifesto to pursuing cross-party support for — he said he was open to reform but not to that particular model.

“We need an open discussion on the size of the Senedd and voting system,” he said. “I do not like STV, but any system is better than the one we used in the last election.”

It places him in unusual agreement with the Plaid government on the principle that the system should be reviewed, even as he rejects their preferred fix.

As a more immediate practical step, Hedges argues that better information would help voters navigate the system as it stands. “The most important thing next time is constituency polls,” he said — suggesting that seat-by-seat polling would give voters a clearer picture of the real contest in their area, rather than relying on national trends.

The new system was introduced through the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024, passed by the previous Labour Welsh Government. Supporters argued the closed-list proportional model would produce a chamber that more accurately reflected how people voted, and that the larger Senedd would improve scrutiny of Welsh laws.

Critics — now apparently including some within Labour’s own ranks — have questioned the closed-list element, which means voters choose a party rather than ranking individual candidates, and whether the public was given enough information to understand how it worked.

Whether Hedges’s call for a review gains traction may rest with the Plaid Cymru government, which has its own manifesto commitment to explore electoral reform — albeit by a different route to the one the Swansea MS would choose.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Mike Hedges warns Wales could face another election as Labour counts the cost of historic defeat
The Swansea MS reflects on Labour’s worst-ever Senedd result in the immediate aftermath of the May election.

Plaid Cymru largest party, Reform UK historic breakthrough, Welsh Labour reduced to nine seats: the new political map of Wales
How the first election under the new voting system reshaped the Senedd.

Plaid Cymru top the poll in Gŵyr Abertawe as Reform UK and Labour also take seats
The full Gŵyr Abertawe result, where Mike Hedges held on for Welsh Labour.

This week I have learned that Malta and Ireland are both using the Single Transferable Vote method in national elections. I knew that e.g. Northern Ireland are doing it, but I was only aware of Australia doing it at the sovereign level.

#STV #SingleTransferableVote
#ElectoralSystem #ProportionalRepresentation

This week I have learned that Malta and Ireland are both using the Single Transferable Vote method in national elections. I knew that e.g. Northern Ireland are doing it, but I was only aware of Australia doing it at the sovereign level.

#STV #SingleTransferableVote
#ElectoralSystem #ProportionalRepresentation

This week I have learned that Malta and Ireland are both using the Single Transferable Vote method in national elections. I knew that e.g. Northern Ireland are doing it, but I was only aware of Australia doing it at the sovereign level.

#STV #SingleTransferableVote
#ElectoralSystem #ProportionalRepresentation

This week I have learned that Malta and Ireland are both using the Single Transferable Vote method in national elections. I knew that e.g. Northern Ireland are doing it, but I was only aware of Australia doing it at the sovereign level.

#STV #SingleTransferableVote
#ElectoralSystem #ProportionalRepresentation

This week I have learned that Malta and Ireland are both using the Single Transferable Vote method in national elections. I knew that e.g. Northern Ireland are doing it, but I was only aware of Australia doing it at the sovereign level.

#STV #SingleTransferableVote
#ElectoralSystem #ProportionalRepresentation

@darrenfower

The two sided house of commons is already outdated as much as it is decrepid and in danger of collapsing into the Thames.
A new building to house parliament is needed with the modern equivalent of a round table for a, single transferable vote, modern democracy.
A second similar building also for a new elected second house would be sensible at the same time.

#ukdemocracy #ukgovernment is broken
#westminster is corrupt
#lobbying bribes cause corruption
#stv #SingleTransferableVote

@darrenfower

The two sided house of commons is already outdated as much as it is decrepid and in danger of collapsing into the Thames.
A new building to house parliament is needed with the modern equivalent of a round table for a, single transferable vote, modern democracy.
A second similar building also for a new elected second house would be sensible at the same time.

#ukdemocracy #ukgovernment is broken
#westminster is corrupt
#lobbying bribes cause corruption
#stv #SingleTransferableVote

@darrenfower

The two sided house of commons is already outdated as much as it is decrepid and in danger of collapsing into the Thames.
A new building to house parliament is needed with the modern equivalent of a round table for a, single transferable vote, modern democracy.
A second similar building also for a new elected second house would be sensible at the same time.

#ukdemocracy #ukgovernment is broken
#westminster is corrupt
#lobbying bribes cause corruption
#stv #SingleTransferableVote

@darrenfower

The two sided house of commons is already outdated as much as it is decrepid and in danger of collapsing into the Thames.
A new building to house parliament is needed with the modern equivalent of a round table for a, single transferable vote, modern democracy.
A second similar building also for a new elected second house would be sensible at the same time.

#ukdemocracy #ukgovernment is broken
#westminster is corrupt
#lobbying bribes cause corruption
#stv #SingleTransferableVote

From the interview with #Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/science/duchin-math-elections-gerrymandering.html

Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment."

NYT: What are the options?

Duchin: "One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method, or S.T.V. In this scenario, you have multi-member districts using ranked choice."

#RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote

From the interview with #Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/science/duchin-math-elections-gerrymandering.html

Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment."

NYT: What are the options?

Duchin: "One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method, or S.T.V. In this scenario, you have multi-member districts using ranked choice."

#RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote

From the interview with #Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/science/duchin-math-elections-gerrymandering.html

Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment."

NYT: What are the options?

Duchin: "One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method, or S.T.V. In this scenario, you have multi-member districts using ranked choice."

#RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote

From the interview with #Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/science/duchin-math-elections-gerrymandering.html

Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment."

NYT: What are the options?

Duchin: "One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method, or S.T.V. In this scenario, you have multi-member districts using ranked choice."

#RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote

From the interview with #Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin in the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/science/duchin-math-elections-gerrymandering.html

Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment."

NYT: What are the options?

Duchin: "One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method, or S.T.V. In this scenario, you have multi-member districts using ranked choice."

#RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote

A new and detailed analysis by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recommends that we expand the U.S. House of Representatives by 150 members and elect them through Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.

"On balance, more proportional systems provide:

better public health outcomes, across a number of measures
lower levels of economic inequality
higher satisfaction with democracy
higher levels of subjective well-being."

The Academy was established during the American Revolution by John Adams and of bunch of founding father guys. They probably know a few things about #democracy.

#SingleTransferableVote #ProportionalRepresentation #unCapTheHouse

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

A new and detailed analysis by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recommends that we expand the U.S. House of Representatives by 150 members and elect them through Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.

"On balance, more proportional systems provide:

better public health outcomes, across a number of measures
lower levels of economic inequality
higher satisfaction with democracy
higher levels of subjective well-being."

The Academy was established during the American Revolution by John Adams and of bunch of founding father guys. They probably know a few things about #democracy.

#SingleTransferableVote #ProportionalRepresentation #unCapTheHouse

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

A new and detailed analysis by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recommends that we expand the U.S. House of Representatives by 150 members and elect them through Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.

"On balance, more proportional systems provide:

better public health outcomes, across a number of measures
lower levels of economic inequality
higher satisfaction with democracy
higher levels of subjective well-being."

The Academy was established during the American Revolution by John Adams and of bunch of founding father guys. They probably know a few things about #democracy.

#SingleTransferableVote #ProportionalRepresentation #unCapTheHouse

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

A new and detailed analysis by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recommends that we expand the U.S. House of Representatives by 150 members and elect them through Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.

"On balance, more proportional systems provide:

better public health outcomes, across a number of measures
lower levels of economic inequality
higher satisfaction with democracy
higher levels of subjective well-being."

The Academy was established during the American Revolution by John Adams and of bunch of founding father guys. They probably know a few things about #democracy.

#SingleTransferableVote #ProportionalRepresentation #unCapTheHouse

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

A new and detailed analysis by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recommends that we expand the U.S. House of Representatives by 150 members and elect them through Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.

"On balance, more proportional systems provide:

better public health outcomes, across a number of measures
lower levels of economic inequality
higher satisfaction with democracy
higher levels of subjective well-being."

The Academy was established during the American Revolution by John Adams and of bunch of founding father guys. They probably know a few things about #democracy.

#SingleTransferableVote #ProportionalRepresentation #unCapTheHouse

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

In the new left party: #ProportionalRepresentation with #SingleTransferableVote and 15% MP Recall, political fraudsters like @Keir_Starmer and Co would be gone in a month.

In the new left party: #ProportionalRepresentation with #SingleTransferableVote and 15% MP Recall, political fraudsters like @Keir_Starmer and Co would be gone in a month.

In the new left party: #ProportionalRepresentation with #SingleTransferableVote and 15% MP Recall, political fraudsters like @Keir_Starmer and Co would be gone in a month.

Just came across this adorable video that clearly explains how the new multi-winner #RankedChoiceVoting system works in #Portland, Oregon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iZLW8FzUxQ

#RCV #PDX #PortlandOR #Cascadia #ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #SingleTransferableVote #Oregon

Just came across this adorable video that clearly explains how the new multi-winner #RankedChoiceVoting system works in #Portland, Oregon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iZLW8FzUxQ

#RCV #PDX #PortlandOR #Cascadia #ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #SingleTransferableVote #Oregon

Just came across this adorable video that clearly explains how the new multi-winner #RankedChoiceVoting system works in #Portland, Oregon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iZLW8FzUxQ

#RCV #PDX #PortlandOR #Cascadia #ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #SingleTransferableVote #Oregon

Just came across this adorable video that clearly explains how the new multi-winner #RankedChoiceVoting system works in #Portland, Oregon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iZLW8FzUxQ

#RCV #PDX #PortlandOR #Cascadia #ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #SingleTransferableVote #Oregon

Just came across this adorable video that clearly explains how the new multi-winner #RankedChoiceVoting system works in #Portland, Oregon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iZLW8FzUxQ

#RCV #PDX #PortlandOR #Cascadia #ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #SingleTransferableVote #Oregon

One of the greatest things about Australian elections is the transferable vote. Short of sabotaging your ballot, there's no such thing as a wasted vote. Just put down your preferences in the same way as if someone had asked you to sort ice cream flavours by preference. If you can't have your first, maybe the second will be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHq04W0kBs

#AusPol #SingleTransferableVote

One of the greatest things about Australian elections is the transferable vote. Short of sabotaging your ballot, there's no such thing as a wasted vote. Just put down your preferences in the same way as if someone had asked you to sort ice cream flavours by preference. If you can't have your first, maybe the second will be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHq04W0kBs

#AusPol #SingleTransferableVote

One of the greatest things about Australian elections is the transferable vote. Short of sabotaging your ballot, there's no such thing as a wasted vote. Just put down your preferences in the same way as if someone had asked you to sort ice cream flavours by preference. If you can't have your first, maybe the second will be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHq04W0kBs

#AusPol #SingleTransferableVote

One of the greatest things about Australian elections is the transferable vote. Short of sabotaging your ballot, there's no such thing as a wasted vote. Just put down your preferences in the same way as if someone had asked you to sort ice cream flavours by preference. If you can't have your first, maybe the second will be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHq04W0kBs

#AusPol #SingleTransferableVote

One of the greatest things about Australian elections is the transferable vote. Short of sabotaging your ballot, there's no such thing as a wasted vote. Just put down your preferences in the same way as if someone had asked you to sort ice cream flavours by preference. If you can't have your first, maybe the second will be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHq04W0kBs

#AusPol #SingleTransferableVote

This is a fantastic video showing how Proportional Representation via Ranked Choice Voting is actually used for elections in Ireland, demonstrated by 6th graders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPlRbkyBKE 🇮🇪

#ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote #RCV #Ireland

This is a fantastic video showing how Proportional Representation via Ranked Choice Voting is actually used for elections in Ireland, demonstrated by 6th graders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPlRbkyBKE 🇮🇪

#ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote #RCV #Ireland

This is a fantastic video showing how Proportional Representation via Ranked Choice Voting is actually used for elections in Ireland, demonstrated by 6th graders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPlRbkyBKE 🇮🇪

#ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote #RCV #Ireland

This is a fantastic video showing how Proportional Representation via Ranked Choice Voting is actually used for elections in Ireland, demonstrated by 6th graders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPlRbkyBKE 🇮🇪

#ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote #RCV #Ireland

This is a fantastic video showing how Proportional Representation via Ranked Choice Voting is actually used for elections in Ireland, demonstrated by 6th graders! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPlRbkyBKE 🇮🇪

#ElectoralReform #ProportionalRepresentation #RankedChoiceVoting #SingleTransferableVote #RCV #Ireland

Irish Election Update

The dust is now settling on the 2024 General Election which took place on Friday. Counting didn’t start anywhere until the following morning, so in the absence of any actual results the Saturday newspapers were full of articles by Phil Space, most of them based on an exit poll that turned out not to be very accurate. It soon become clear what was going to happen. The Single Transferable Vote system does mean that counting takes a while – one constituency (Cavan-Monaghan) is yet to declare as I write this – but it is much fairer than the system used in the UK and the process is fascinating to follow. Since moving to Ireland 7 years ago, I think my two favourite spectator sports are hurling and election counts, though the former happens at a considerably faster pace than the latter!

I’ll begin with my own constituency, Kildare North, which returns 5 TDs. The chosen five are James Lawless (FF), Réada Cronin (SF), Aidan Farrelly (SD), Naoise Ó Cearúil (FF) and Joe Neville (FG). The big surprise was that Fine Gael grandee Bernard Durkan lost his seat to a younger colleague, the strategy of fielding three candidates backfired on him. At one stage it even looked like all three might be eliminated, which would have been very amusing, but it was not to be.

A lesser surprise at least to me is that Aidan Farrelly won for the Social Democrats. Catherine Murphy (SD) was top of the poll last time but has now retired. There was no guarantee that Aidan Farrrelly would hold onto her personal following, especially since a former Social Democrat turned Independent stood against him. In the end, however, Farrelly was elected quite comfortably, although with a smaller share of the vote than Catherine Murphy had achieved.

Of the two FF candidates elected, James Lawless and Naoise Ó Cearúil, the fomer is more familiar; the latter was elected to the County Council this summer and will be a new arrival in the Dáil. The Kildare North constituency has one extra TD this time because of population growth, and it went to FF who ended up with the most TDs nationally.

The successful Sinn Féin candidate was the incumbent Réada Cronin.

The wooden spoon for Kildare North went to Sean Gill of the Centre Party of Ireland, an ironic name for what is far-right splinter group of FG previously known as Renua. He received a majestic 67 votes and was eliminated on the first round. In fact, far-right candidates did very poorly not only in Kildare North but nationally. That’s a relief.

One of the fascinating things about the coverage of the election has been to see how people use their preferences. Voting is a much more nuanced thing here that it has ever been allowed to be in the UK by the electoral system there. Some of the transfers are very hard to fathom. I noticed in Kildare North, for example, that some voters put the left-wing People Before Profit first then Fine Gael second, skipping over the whole spectrum in between. I don’t understand that choice, but then I don’t have to. Folk are perfectly entitled to use their vote whichever way they wish. That’s how it works. It’s called democracy.

The big three parties look set to finish on FF 48, SF 39 and FG 38. This means that FG+FF add up to 86, which is two short of a majority. The overall outcome of the election will therefore be the Same Old Same Old government, a coalition of the two right wings of the Property Party, possibly with a smaller party to make up the numbers and to be contemptuously discarded at the next election. That fate befell the Green Party, part of the outgoing coalition, which lost 11 of its 12 TDs this time round. Labour and the Social Democrats are both on 11 TDs. Will one of them walk into the trap, or will some Independents be enough?

Sinn Féin once again failed to break the deadlock of FFG government. They have done reasonably well in terms of seats, but their share of the vote fell by about 5% since the 2020 Election but in between then and now had risen to over 30%. only to fall back recently. I suspect the party leaders will be privately relieved at where they ended up, given that a few weeks ago things looked likely to be much worse for them.

Whatever the complexion of the final coalition, it seems clear to me that we’re in for five more years of housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, under-investment in education and public services. I don’t know what it will take for a change of government to take place. Perhaps the next (inevitable) financial crash? Or perhaps not even that. Ireland is very set in its ways, politically speaking.

It has been remarked that this election has bucked two global trends. One is the rise of the far-right, whose failure is something I am very happy about. The other is anti-incumbent feeling. I’m much more ambivalent about that because in my opinion change is long overdue. Apparently the electorate were unconvinced that change of government would really make things better here.

P.S. The turnout – just under 60% – was the lowest it has been in a General Election in Ireland since 1923. I find it saddening that 40% of those eligible did not even bother to vote.

#GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #ireland #Politics #SingleTransferableVote #SinnFéin

Irish Election Update

The dust is now settling on the 2024 General Election which took place on Friday. Counting didn’t start anywhere until the following morning, so in the absence of any actual results the Saturday newspapers were full of articles by Phil Space, most of them based on an exit poll that turned out not to be very accurate. It soon become clear what was going to happen. The Single Transferable Vote system does mean that counting takes a while – one constituency (Cavan-Monaghan) is yet to declare as I write this – but it is much fairer than the system used in the UK and the process is fascinating to follow. Since moving to Ireland 7 years ago, I think my two favourite spectator sports are hurling and election counts, though the former happens at a considerably faster pace than the latter!

I’ll begin with my own constituency, Kildare North, which returned 5 TDs. The chosen five are James Lawless (FF), Réada Cronin (SF), Aidan Farrelly (SD), Naoise Ó Cearúil (FF) and Joe Neville (FG). The big surprise was that Fine Gael grandee Bernard Durkan lost his seat to a younger colleague, the strategy of fielding three candidates backfired on him. At one stage it even looked like all three might be eliminated, which would have been very amusing, but it was not to be.

A surprise at least to me, though a lesser one than the defeat of Bernard Durkan, is that Aidan Farrelly won for the Social Democrats. Catherine Murphy (SD) was top of the poll last time but has now retired. There was no guarantee that Aidan Farrrelly would hold onto Catherine Murphy’s personal following, especially since a former Social Democrat turned Independent stood against him. In the end, however, Farrelly was elected quite comfortably, although with a smaller share of the vote than Catherine Murphy had achieved.

Of the two FF candidates elected, James Lawless and Naoise Ó Cearúil, the fomer is more familiar; the latter was elected to the County Council this summer and will be a new arrival in the Dáil. The Kildare North constituency has one extra TD this time because of population growth, and it went to FF who ended up with the most TDs nationally.

The successful Sinn Féin candidate was the incumbent Réada Cronin.

The wooden spoon for Kildare North went to Sean Gill of the Centre Party of Ireland, an ironic name for what is far-right splinter group of FG previously known as Renua. He received a majestic 67 votes and was eliminated on the first round. In fact, far-right candidates did very poorly not only in Kildare North but nationally. That’s a relief.

One of the fascinating things about the coverage of the election has been to see how people use their preferences. Voting is a much more nuanced thing here that it has ever been allowed to be in the UK by the electoral system there. Some of the transfers are very hard to fathom. I noticed in Kildare North, for example, that some voters put the left-wing People Before Profit first then Fine Gael second, skipping over the whole spectrum in between. I don’t understand that choice, but then I don’t have to. Folk are perfectly entitled to use their vote whichever way they wish. That’s how it works. It’s called democracy.

The big three parties look set to finish on FF 48, SF 39 and FG 38. This means that FG+FF add up to 86, which is two short of a majority. The overall outcome of the election will therefore be the Same Old Same Old government, a coalition of the two right wings of the Property Party, possibly with a smaller party to make up the numbers and to be contemptuously discarded at the next election. That fate befell the Green Party, part of the outgoing coalition, which lost 11 of its 12 TDs this time round. Labour and the Social Democrats are both on 11 TDs. Will one of them walk into the trap, or will some Independents be enough?

Incidentally, the only prediction I made in my earlier post about this election, turned out to be incorrect. I was confident that there would be more Independent TDs than last time. In fact there are fewer (16 versus 20). Though the predominantly rural, right-wing Independent Ireland won 4 seats, it is a party so its TDs are not Independent, if you see what I mean.

Sinn Féin once again failed to break the deadlock of FFG government. They have done reasonably well in terms of seats, but their share of the vote fell by about 5% since the 2020 Election but in between then and now had risen to over 30%. only to fall back recently. I suspect the party leaders will be privately relieved at where they ended up, given that a few weeks ago things looked likely to be much worse for them.

Whatever the complexion of the final coalition, it seems clear to me that we’re in for five more years of housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, under-investment in education and public services. I don’t know what it will take for a change of government to take place. Perhaps the next (inevitable) financial crash? Or perhaps not even that. Ireland is very set in its ways, politically speaking.

It has been remarked that this election has bucked two global trends. One is the rise of the far-right, whose failure is something I am very happy about. The other is anti-incumbent feeling. I’m much more ambivalent about that because in my opinion change is long overdue. Apparently the electorate were unconvinced that change of government would really make things better here.

P.S. The turnout – just under 60% – was the lowest it has been in a General Election in Ireland since 1923. I find it saddening that 40% of those eligible did not even bother to vote.

#GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #ireland #Politics #SingleTransferableVote #SinnFéin

Irish Election Update

The dust is now settling on the 2024 General Election which took place on Friday. Counting didn’t start anywhere until the following morning, so in the absence of any actual results the Saturday newspapers were full of articles by Phil Space, most of them based on an exit poll that turned out not to be very accurate. It soon become clear what was going to happen. The Single Transferable Vote system does mean that counting takes a while – one constituency (Cavan-Monaghan) is yet to declare as I write this – but it is much fairer than the system used in the UK and the process is fascinating to follow. Since moving to Ireland 7 years ago, I think my two favourite spectator sports are hurling and election counts, though the former happens at a considerably faster pace than the latter!

I’ll begin with my own constituency, Kildare North, which returns 5 TDs. The chosen five are James Lawless (FF), Réada Cronin (SF), Aidan Farrelly (SD), Naoise Ó Cearúil (FF) and Joe Neville (FG). The big surprise was that Fine Gael grandee Bernard Durkan lost his seat to a younger colleague, the strategy of fielding three candidates backfired on him. At one stage it even looked like all three might be eliminated, which would have been very amusing, but it was not to be.

A lesser surprise at least to me is that Aidan Farrelly won for the Social Democrats. Catherine Murphy (SD) was top of the poll last time but has now retired. There was no guarantee that Aidan Farrrelly would hold onto her personal following, especially since a former Social Democrat turned Independent stood against him. In the end, however, Farrelly was elected quite comfortably, although with a smaller share of the vote than Catherine Murphy had achieved.

Of the two FF candidates elected, James Lawless and Naoise Ó Cearúil, the fomer is more familiar; the latter was elected to the County Council this summer and will be a new arrival in the Dáil. The Kildare North constituency has one extra TD this time because of population growth, and it went to FF who ended up with the most TDs nationally.

The successful Sinn Féin candidate was the incumbent Réada Cronin.

The wooden spoon for Kildare North went to Sean Gill of the Centre Party of Ireland, an ironic name for what is far-right splinter group of FG previously known as Renua. He received a majestic 67 votes and was eliminated on the first round. In fact, far-right candidates did very poorly not only in Kildare North but nationally. That’s a relief.

One of the fascinating things about the coverage of the election has been to see how people use their preferences. Voting is a much more nuanced thing here that it has ever been allowed to be in the UK by the electoral system there. Some of the transfers are very hard to fathom. I noticed in Kildare North, for example, that some voters put the left-wing People Before Profit first then Fine Gael second, skipping over the whole spectrum in between. I don’t understand that choice, but then I don’t have to. Folk are perfectly entitled to use their vote whichever way they wish. That’s how it works. It’s called democracy.

The big three parties look set to finish on FF 48, SF 39 and FG 38. This means that FG+FF add up to 86, which is two short of a majority. The overall outcome of the election will therefore be the Same Old Same Old government, a coalition of the two right wings of the Property Party, possibly with a smaller party to make up the numbers and to be contemptuously discarded at the next election. That fate befell the Green Party, part of the outgoing coalition, which lost 11 of its 12 TDs this time round. Labour and the Social Democrats are both on 11 TDs. Will one of them walk into the trap, or will some Independents be enough?

Sinn Féin once again failed to break the deadlock of FFG government. They have done reasonably well in terms of seats, but their share of the vote fell by about 5% since the 2020 Election but in between then and now had risen to over 30%. only to fall back recently. I suspect the party leaders will be privately relieved at where they ended up, given that a few weeks ago things looked likely to be much worse for them.

Whatever the complexion of the final coalition, it seems clear to me that we’re in for five more years of housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, under-investment in education and public services. I don’t know what it will take for a change of government to take place. Perhaps the next (inevitable) financial crash? Or perhaps not even that. Ireland is very set in its ways, politically speaking.

It has been remarked that this election has bucked two global trends. One is the rise of the far-right, whose failure is something I am very happy about. The other is anti-incumbent feeling. I’m much more ambivalent about that because in my opinion change is long overdue. Apparently the electorate were unconvinced that change of government would really make things better here.

P.S. The turnout – just under 60% – was the lowest it has been in a General Election in Ireland since 1923. I find it saddening that 40% of those eligible did not even bother to vote.

#GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #ireland #Politics #SingleTransferableVote #SinnFéin

Irish Election Update

The dust is now settling on the 2024 General Election which took place on Friday. Counting didn’t start anywhere until the following morning, so in the absence of any actual results the Saturday newspapers were full of articles by Phil Space, most of them based on an exit poll that turned out not to be very accurate. It soon become clear what was going to happen. The Single Transferable Vote system does mean that counting takes a while – one constituency (Cavan-Monaghan) is yet to declare as I write this – but it is much fairer than the system used in the UK and the process is fascinating to follow. Since moving to Ireland 7 years ago, I think my two favourite spectator sports are hurling and election counts, though the former happens at a considerably faster pace than the latter!

I’ll begin with my own constituency, Kildare North, which returned 5 TDs. The chosen five are James Lawless (FF), Réada Cronin (SF), Aidan Farrelly (SD), Naoise Ó Cearúil (FF) and Joe Neville (FG). The big surprise was that Fine Gael grandee Bernard Durkan lost his seat to a younger colleague, the strategy of fielding three candidates backfired on him. At one stage it even looked like all three might be eliminated, which would have been very amusing, but it was not to be.

A surprise at least to me, though a lesser one than the defeat of Bernard Durkan, is that Aidan Farrelly won for the Social Democrats. Catherine Murphy (SD) was top of the poll last time but has now retired. There was no guarantee that Aidan Farrrelly would hold onto Catherine Murphy’s personal following, especially since a former Social Democrat turned Independent stood against him. In the end, however, Farrelly was elected quite comfortably, although with a smaller share of the vote than Catherine Murphy had achieved.

Of the two FF candidates elected, James Lawless and Naoise Ó Cearúil, the fomer is more familiar; the latter was elected to the County Council this summer and will be a new arrival in the Dáil. The Kildare North constituency has one extra TD this time because of population growth, and it went to FF who ended up with the most TDs nationally.

The successful Sinn Féin candidate was the incumbent Réada Cronin.

The wooden spoon for Kildare North went to Sean Gill of the Centre Party of Ireland, an ironic name for what is far-right splinter group of FG previously known as Renua. He received a majestic 67 votes and was eliminated on the first round. In fact, far-right candidates did very poorly not only in Kildare North but nationally. That’s a relief.

One of the fascinating things about the coverage of the election has been to see how people use their preferences. Voting is a much more nuanced thing here that it has ever been allowed to be in the UK by the electoral system there. Some of the transfers are very hard to fathom. I noticed in Kildare North, for example, that some voters put the left-wing People Before Profit first then Fine Gael second, skipping over the whole spectrum in between. I don’t understand that choice, but then I don’t have to. Folk are perfectly entitled to use their vote whichever way they wish. That’s how it works. It’s called democracy.

The big three parties look set to finish on FF 48, SF 39 and FG 38. This means that FG+FF add up to 86, which is two short of a majority. The overall outcome of the election will therefore be the Same Old Same Old government, a coalition of the two right wings of the Property Party, possibly with a smaller party to make up the numbers and to be contemptuously discarded at the next election. That fate befell the Green Party, part of the outgoing coalition, which lost 11 of its 12 TDs this time round. Labour and the Social Democrats are both on 11 TDs. Will one of them walk into the trap, or will some Independents be enough?

Incidentally, the only prediction I made in my earlier post about this election, turned out to be incorrect. I was confident that there would be more Independent TDs than last time. In fact there are fewer (16 versus 20). Though the predominantly rural, right-wing Independent Ireland won 4 seats, it is a party so its TDs are not Independent, if you see what I mean.

Sinn Féin once again failed to break the deadlock of FFG government. They have done reasonably well in terms of seats, but their share of the vote fell by about 5% since the 2020 Election but in between then and now had risen to over 30%. only to fall back recently. I suspect the party leaders will be privately relieved at where they ended up, given that a few weeks ago things looked likely to be much worse for them.

Whatever the complexion of the final coalition, it seems clear to me that we’re in for five more years of housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, under-investment in education and public services. I don’t know what it will take for a change of government to take place. Perhaps the next (inevitable) financial crash? Or perhaps not even that. Ireland is very set in its ways, politically speaking.

It has been remarked that this election has bucked two global trends. One is the rise of the far-right, whose failure is something I am very happy about. The other is anti-incumbent feeling. I’m much more ambivalent about that because in my opinion change is long overdue. Apparently the electorate were unconvinced that change of government would really make things better here.

P.S. The turnout – just under 60% – was the lowest it has been in a General Election in Ireland since 1923. I find it saddening that 40% of those eligible did not even bother to vote.

#GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #ireland #Politics #SingleTransferableVote #SinnFéin

Irish Election Update

The dust is now settling on the 2024 General Election which took place on Friday. Counting didn’t start anywhere until the following morning, so in the absence of any actual results the Saturday newspapers were full of articles by Phil Space, most of them based on an exit poll that turned out not to be very accurate. It soon become clear what was going to happen. The Single Transferable Vote system does mean that counting takes a while – one constituency (Cavan-Monaghan) is yet to declare as I write this – but it is much fairer than the system used in the UK and the process is fascinating to follow. Since moving to Ireland 7 years ago, I think my two favourite spectator sports are hurling and election counts, though the former happens at a considerably faster pace than the latter!

I’ll begin with my own constituency, Kildare North, which returns 5 TDs. The chosen five are James Lawless (FF), Réada Cronin (SF), Aidan Farrelly (SD), Naoise Ó Cearúil (FF) and Joe Neville (FG). The big surprise was that Fine Gael grandee Bernard Durkan lost his seat to a younger colleague, the strategy of fielding three candidates backfired on him. At one stage it even looked like all three might be eliminated, which would have been very amusing, but it was not to be.

A lesser surprise at least to me is that Aidan Farrelly won for the Social Democrats. Catherine Murphy (SD) was top of the poll last time but has now retired. There was no guarantee that Aidan Farrrelly would hold onto her personal following, especially since a former Social Democrat turned Independent stood against him. In the end, however, Farrelly was elected quite comfortably, although with a smaller share of the vote than Catherine Murphy had achieved.

Of the two FF candidates elected, James Lawless and Naoise Ó Cearúil, the fomer is more familiar; the latter was elected to the County Council this summer and will be a new arrival in the Dáil. The Kildare North constituency has one extra TD this time because of population growth, and it went to FF who ended up with the most TDs nationally.

The successful Sinn Féin candidate was the incumbent Réada Cronin.

The wooden spoon for Kildare North went to Sean Gill of the Centre Party of Ireland, an ironic name for what is far-right splinter group of FG previously known as Renua. He received a majestic 67 votes and was eliminated on the first round. In fact, far-right candidates did very poorly not only in Kildare North but nationally. That’s a relief.

One of the fascinating things about the coverage of the election has been to see how people use their preferences. Voting is a much more nuanced thing here that it has ever been allowed to be in the UK by the electoral system there. Some of the transfers are very hard to fathom. I noticed in Kildare North, for example, that some voters put the left-wing People Before Profit first then Fine Gael second, skipping over the whole spectrum in between. I don’t understand that choice, but then I don’t have to. Folk are perfectly entitled to use their vote whichever way they wish. That’s how it works. It’s called democracy.

The big three parties look set to finish on FF 48, SF 39 and FG 38. This means that FG+FF add up to 86, which is two short of a majority. The overall outcome of the election will therefore be the Same Old Same Old government, a coalition of the two right wings of the Property Party, possibly with a smaller party to make up the numbers and to be contemptuously discarded at the next election. That fate befell the Green Party, part of the outgoing coalition, which lost 11 of its 12 TDs this time round. Labour and the Social Democrats are both on 11 TDs. Will one of them walk into the trap, or will some Independents be enough?

Sinn Féin once again failed to break the deadlock of FFG government. They have done reasonably well in terms of seats, but their share of the vote fell by about 5% since the 2020 Election but in between then and now had risen to over 30%. only to fall back recently. I suspect the party leaders will be privately relieved at where they ended up, given that a few weeks ago things looked likely to be much worse for them.

Whatever the complexion of the final coalition, it seems clear to me that we’re in for five more years of housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, under-investment in education and public services. I don’t know what it will take for a change of government to take place. Perhaps the next (inevitable) financial crash? Or perhaps not even that. Ireland is very set in its ways, politically speaking.

It has been remarked that this election has bucked two global trends. One is the rise of the far-right, whose failure is something I am very happy about. The other is anti-incumbent feeling. I’m much more ambivalent about that because in my opinion change is long overdue. Apparently the electorate were unconvinced that change of government would really make things better here.

P.S. The turnout – just under 60% – was the lowest it has been in a General Election in Ireland since 1923. I find it saddening that 40% of those eligible did not even bother to vote.

#GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #ireland #Politics #SingleTransferableVote #SinnFéin