Paradiiiiiiiiiigm Baaaarrrr! Plurality Voting As Used By The UK General Election

May 6, 2010 - the set date for the upcoming UK General Election. Here's a brief look back at the results of past elections; which party was in power and for their respective terms as governmental rulers of the land;

1935-45 ---------- Conservative Party
1945-51 ---------- Labour Party
1951-64 ---------- Conservative Party
1964-70 ---------- Labour Party
1970-74 ---------- Conservative Party
1974-79 ---------- Labour Party
1979-97 ---------- Conservative Party
1997-present ---- Labour Party

Anyone hazard a guess as to whom will win it this time around?


As things currently stand; there are over 400 registered political parties in the UK; 367 and 46 in Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively. They are allowed to contend for office of the 646 constituencies or "seats" that make up the United Kingdom's parliament. Many of these parties do just that and stand for their native constituency and/ or surrounding areas, and so therefore are clearly not in the running to rule the country. However, the system in which a party is elected on a regional level is just as unbalanced as it is on the overall national scale. This is down to the method of plurality voting (aka "First Past The Post" (FPTP/FPP) voting) over majority voting.


Consider this situation; Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are the only parties running for election for a constituency. The total number of votes counted is 10,000 (low turnout, eh!) - with Labour getting 4,000 votes, the Conservatives with 3,001 and then the Liberals with 2,999. In the plurality voting system Labour would get elected as they got more votes than the other parties; but to have won by majority Labour would need 5,001 votes or more; otherwise there'd be no winner, and the parties would have to co-operate as a coalition government (hung parliament). As a percentage, Labour got 40% of the votes in plurality; a majority victory requires at least 50(+1vote)%. With plurality voting, a party can win earning a certain amount of votes, even if more were cast not to put it into power.


In addition to the plurality system being used, another factor comes into the equation of how the electoral results are calculated. The DV (Deviation from Proportionality) Score writes off votes with low totals by the smaller parties and transfers it to those that already fared better. On a national level the DV Score strengthens the major parties' chance of acquiring governmental rule. Voting Matters highlights that at the 1997 UK General Election 21% (1 in 5) of the MPs elected got their position through DV. Regarding the last Election in 2005, Labour retained power by getting 55.2% of the seats with only 35.3% of the total number of votes.

As you can see; it requires less votes to get elected via the plurality system along with the unfair DV Score. These elements lean heavily towards the two dominating parties as they are in contention for many of the seats throughout the UK to gather up more votes, whilst the smaller parties and independents aren't truly represented; if at all.

A Beutiful Poem #1

Read you not those stories,
of the trials in days gone by,
Of the Sahabi beloved by Allah,
Who for Allah's cause did strive?

Why loosen your hold upon Him?
Why fling away, His outstretched Hand?
Ya nafsi, do you not remember,
Bilal's sabr on the blazing sand?

"Ahad! Ahad!" He cried,
While his flesh did drip and burn.
"Ahad! Ahad!" He cried,
To Allah alone he turned.

Forget you the firmness of Hamza,
As the gleaming swords did fall?
With Sabr he turned to Allah,
as the Qureish did slice and maul.

Why drown in salty teardrops?
How can you dare compare your pain?
To that of Yasir and Summayah,
As the lay tortured on the scorching plain?

Forget you the charring of Khabbab,
As on burning coals he lay?
Ya nafsi how meager your suffering,
Wherefore do you lose your way?

Why befriend you not Al-Wali?
Why not in Salat to Him complain?
Like Job who only to Allah,
Turned in all his grief and pain?

Forget you those trials in this life,
Cleanse your heart and make it clean?
Ya nafsi, why all this sadness?
Do you not wish your heart to gleam?

Be patient in all your hardships,
Allah hears your cries of woe.
So trust Him and His Hikmah,
For He knows best and you don't know.

So tighten your hold upon Him,
Lest He withdraw His outstretched Hand!
And remember the example of Bilal,
As he lay anchored on the blazing sand.

"Ahad! Ahad!" he cried,
While his flesh did drip and burn.
"Ahad! Ahad!" he cried,
To Allah alone he turned.

Paul Hardcastle - "19"

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - "Television, The Drug Of A Nation"

AYTD's "The Hit-List" Pt. 9

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (1943-present)
- 10th President of the World Bank Group (2005-07)
- Former United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001-05)
- Bilderberg Group member
- Trilateral Commission member
- Council on Foreign Relations affiliate
- Major architect behind Iraq War to occur; pushing the angle that Saddam Hussein's regime trying to purchase large quantities of uranium from Niger and South Africa for nuclear weapons which would bolster their power as a military force, and thus posing as a threat to the security of the United States


Karl Christian Rove (1950-present)
- Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff (2005-07)
- Former Senior Advisor to the President of the United States (2001-07)
- Bilderberg Group member
- Has admitted that the US' use of advanced interrogation techniques (most notably that of waterboarding) against detainees at US military bases such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib doesn't count as torture
- Leaked name of former CIA agent Valerie Plame after her husband Joseph Wilson criticized the Bush administration's campaign for going to war against Iraq


Paul Adolph Volcker (1927-present)
- Chair of the US president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (2009-present)
- Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1979-87)
- Bilderberg Group member
- Founding member of the Trilateral Commission
- North American Chairman of the Trilateral Commission
- Former Vice-President of Chase Manhattan Bank (1965-69)

''FASHIONABLE MURDER''

AYTD's: Qur'an Quote #24

"And We task not any person except according to his capacity, and with Us is a record which speaks the truth, and they will not be wronged."

(Surah 23: Al-Mu'minun (The Believers); verse 62)

AYTD's: Qur'an Quote #23

"And whoever earns a fault or a sin and then throws it on to someone innocent, he has indeed burdened himself with falsehood and a manifest sin."

(Surah 4: An-Nisa (The Women); verse 112)

AYTD's: Qur'an Quote #22

"And that which you gave in gift (to others), in order that it may increase (your wealth b expecting to get a better one in return) from other people's property, has no increase with Allah; but that which you give in Zakat (Sadaqah, charity, etc.) seeking Allah's Countenance, ten those they shall have manifold increase."

(Surah 30: Ar-Rum (The Romans); verse 39)

"The Name's Soetoro...... Barry Soetoro"; The Identity of Barack Hussein Obama II

The following is an excerpt from an interview rapper DMX gave hip-hop magazine XXL, published online back in May 2008. Due to the explicit nature of the piece AYTD has edited some of the language so as not to cause any offence to any readers out there. However; the article can be read uncut and in its entirety over here:

Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.

You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!

Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!

Barack.
What the f*ck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?

Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?

Yeah.
What the f*ck?! That ain’t no f*ckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that n*gga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the f*ck outta here.

You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.

I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
Wow, Barack! The n*gga’s name is Barack. Barack? N*gga named Barack Obama. What the f*ck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his f*ckin’ name. Ima tell this n*gga when I see him, “Stop that bullsh*t. Stop that bullsh*t” [laughs] “That ain’t your f*ckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.

There's been much speculation as to the true identity of "Barack Hussein Obama II" and the legitimacy of this person holding the status as the 44th President of the United States. To stand a chance of having this role, the following requirements must be met:

• You must be a native-born citizen of the USA (i.e. you had to have been born in the USA). If you aren't; then both your parents must be
• You must be at least 35 years of age
• You must have lived in the USA for a minimum of 14 years

(for more info regarding this criteria, please visit USGovInfo.)

Ever since becoming the candidate of the Democratic Party to run for office; the issue about Obama's place of birth has always been somewhat up in the air. Even though his administration has released this document to verify Obama being born in Honolulu, Hawaii - it doesn't contain details about which hospital he was born in, the name and/or signature of a hospital administrator from the said hospital to confirm that the birth happened there at that specific time; neither is there a name or signature of the local or state registrar to further validate the location and timing of the birth occurring.

These two videos try to shed some light as to if "Barack Hussein Obama II" is his real name and if he was really born in Hawaii or not;

(As well as the above two videos, also definitely worth reading is NewsWithViews writer Lyn Stuter's Who Will Stand Up For The U.S. Constitution?)

To be fair; debating whether this person's name is Barack/Barry/Barclays/Barbie/Barbados/Barbecue/Bar Rumba/Bartender/Baklava OR WHATEVER is really neither here or there - your actions will define who you are, not a mere label like a name. Obama's support for bailing out the banks, push for the fraudulent hoaxes that are the Swine Flu and Climate Change, and provoking foreign countries into taking military action against him are fine examples of actions made by a person that has no love for humanity or the freedoms and liberties we can all live happily by.

"I've Never Voted Tory Before"

As the UK General Election draws nearer, the campaigns by the major political parties step up a gear and really express their arguments as to why they should be in power as government for the next term. As we mentioned earlier in the Call Me Dave post, the Conservative party is trying to reach as many different social groups within the general public to gather the most votes possible via their billboards/posters. Their latest motto from their campaign is entitled "I've never voted Tory before". This slogan is spread across three posters showing such diverse socio-economic sectors, and is accompanied by a short statement that puts the Tories in a positive light, by briefly picking out a part of the party's manifesto in which it pledges to improve the country.

Once again, Andy Barefoot has tweaked the poster in order for satirical sacrifice and MyDavidCameron showcases some of the submissions they've received. AYTD has come up with a few of its own "I've never voted Tory before" posters.




































































What would yours say? Make your own "I've never voted Tory before" poster here.

Swing Out Sister - "Breakout"

Talking Heads - "Road To Nowhere"

AYTD's Sign Language #5

Inspired by an earlier AYTD post: Occult Symbolism: Saturn Worship