[jambutty]

No SPUGGIE J it would never been given a chance to work because the only people who could make it happen is the Government in office and they would never want that sort of control.

The £5,000 deposit WillowTheWhisp would deter frivolous prospective candidates.

In this day and age Shillelagh, with the advent of the Internet a larger constituency should not be a problem. If every MP had his/her own web site where constituents could register as a member, they could then make their views known to the MP as and when they choose. It would be fairly easy for the MP to seek the views of the constituents by way of a web site poll. It might just encourage people to get more involved in how the country is run. Many, many people complain about Government spending but few make their voices heard where it might do some good. They just moan to each other. Our country is the way it is because of electorate apathy.

With party politics Cyfr, we have to accept the whole manifesto even if there are parts that we do not agree with. We would have to do the same with my suggestion but the MP would have to vote as his/her manifesto decreed and not along party lines. On most occasions MP’s are forced to vote along party lines even if an MP disagrees with the subject being put to the vote. Some democracy that is!

It’s better not to pass a law than to pass one that is not for the benefit of the majority of the people. But you wouldn’t get ‘gridlock’. Look at it this way, if an MP is elected because his/her manifesto stated that s/he was against, say ID cards, when it came to the Parliamentary vote s/he would vote that way. If enough of the other MP’s were also elected because of the same view the ID motion would be defeated, or vice versa. The point is that without party politics an MP would represent his/her constituents views and that is democracy.

But as I said it is nothing more than a pipe dream.