Do readers of Centre Right think we need as many as 650 MPs? Is the quality of legislation made better by such a large number of lawmakers? In the the United States they seem to get by just fine with just 435 members in the House of Representatives. Could fewer MPs offer a better deal to the voters and enable MPs to be paid at a level that is likely to see less difficulties with expenses? Should MPs sitting for Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland automatically become devolved lawmakers, thereby cutting the number of politicians the public are expected to pay for?
If we do go down such a route one thing seems especially important to me. Equality of voters. Each seat should have a set level - e.g. 85,000 voters. No ifs, no buts. The variance of electorates around the country is unacceptable and distorts election outcomes. It also results in an unfair democratic deficit for voters in more heavily populated constituencies. I would be really interested to know what Centre Right readers think.
