Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes’s timely litany of New Labour’s failings overemphasises the same sins that brought down the Tories….

Lord Falconer, who is reviewing voting systems, was cool on the commission’s call for proportional representation at Westminster, saying there were “no plans” for reform before the next general election. He argued that the first-past-the-post system…

None of the above. [X]

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The problem – as I see it – with abstention is the fact that it so often gets painted as “voter apathy” which irritates me. I don’t want to give the impression that I “can’t be bothered” voting… a message which actually reinforces the willingness of politicians to act in their own interest (“Well, if they can’t be bothered telling us what they want, then we’ll just have to give them what we want!”)

Of course, spoiling your vote with “None of the above” can get you lumped in with morons who don’t know how to use a ballot paper.

However if you manage to mobilise enough people to write “None of The Above”, there will be a massive (relative) increase in the number of spoilt papers. Whereas if you campaign for abstentions; even if your campaign is successful it will only register as a small percentage increase in the number of stay-at-homes, as that’s already a very large number (especially in the locals).

So as a political tactic designed to make a statement, a campaign to spoil ballots has a far greater change of success (statistically speaking).

It’s the rancid personalities at the top of the tree that are largely responsible for political disengagement. Do the phrases “sofa government”, “kitchen cabinet” (that one not invented by Blair, I hasten to add.) and “presidential style” mean nothing to you?

Still, if you insist on shaping the debate, how about…

As MatGB says, how about a more representative electoral system? What about political parties being funded by their membership meaning the high commands must engage with and act on the needs and ideas of the grassroots – a return to bottom up policy making? If you were solely reliant on your members for your cash you’re going to have to relearn how to listen pretty damn quick.

And how about some level of direct democracy as in places like Switzerland? Allow the people to make real decisions about issues that affect them.

Giving people more opportunities to engage gives them less excuses to opt out. If politics isn’t to be constricted in it’s ever tightening bubble, people must more input other than the right to turn up every four years to rubber stamp the agenda (which you only may partially agree with) of a largely deaf political parties.

Will: That’s a fair point about the protest vote. The thing is that Lib Dem policy can vary so wildly from council to council that it’s difficult to spot the over-arching strategy. How would you define a recognisably Lib Dem council?

You’re right that (would-be) councillors should be judged on their manifestos but how many people take the time? Don’t the majority of people who bother to vote in local elections vote along tribal lines anyway?