The Conservative Party Leadership election

And what is so odd about it

As an outsider, I’ve not been paying much attention to the Conservative Party Leadership Election. Now that this won’t lead to a new Prime minister its not of such general concern. From what I can see, the candidates seem to possess a varied ability to reach outside the party’s base support, but of course that’s the exactly the people they need to appeal to the get this gig.

That is a bit odd, but its well trodden ground and not the oddness I was referring to in my subtitle.

The fact is, if the Conservative party were true to their word, Robert Jenrick would have already been elected as their leader. He received 23% of the first round of votes, more than any other candidate, and they believe in First past The Post, don’t they?

And that is the odd thing - they don’t when it comes to their own internal democracy. Then they allow for several rounds of voting, which in effect is the AV system, which is the form of STV where there is only one vacancy.

Yes, they spread the election over days, so the the electorate can change their minds. Under AV/STV that isn’t on offer, just to keep the timescales and enthusiasm to vote at sensible levels, but its essentially the same system

(OK we should note that its only for the final run off that the membership is consulted, before then only MPs have a vote)

So next time a Conservative politician defends FPTP as the best system for the country, you might ask them why their own leadership elections don't use it .