Rupert Myers: A tale that explodes the myth that AV is a "fairer" voting system

Rupert Myers is a barrister and writer.

It is the next general election, and in the new constituency of Midsomer there is a tight race for the seat. This is a future in which the referendum on the Alternative Vote has been won by the Yes campaign, and the first time voters have had the chance not just to cast one vote each, but to express their preferences.

Early polling in Midsomer, conducted a year before the election, showed the seat to be a broad four-way split, between Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, and support for the candidate put up by the English Defence League. All four of these groups have traditional supporters in Midsomer, and account for approximately 25% of the votes each.

With twelve months to go until the election, the recently retired Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby throws his hat into the ring as an independent candidate under the banner of a ‘Keep Midsomer Safe’ campaign.

Barnaby has no experience of politics, no traditional supporters, and no campaign team, but he has a plan: he will campaign for second preference votes, knowing as he does that the supporters of the four major political parties in Midsomer would rather murder each other than vote for one another.

Rupert Myers: Mike Huckabee, a man to watch?

Rupert Myers is a barrister and writer.
 
When the next US presidential race rolls into town in 2012, the Republicans may pick as their candidate someone who received an unusually low level of attention in the British press in 2008, and yet came second in the delegate count to John McCain, and third behind Mitt Romney in the popular vote. He didn't come from a wealthy background, or have an illustrious war record, but he was the only candidate endorsed by Chuck Norris, and the only candidate with his own rock band, Capitol Offense. He was in a statistical dead heat for the 2012 presidential election with Barack Obama according to a poll conducted late last year , tied  with Obama in a recent poll and yet few people seem to know the name of Governor Mike Huckabee.

The quick witted former Arkansas Governor has a rhetorical skill which far outshines that of Sarah Palin: his answers in relation to the death penalty and Jesus in the last nomination contest were smarter, better constructed, and indeed funnier than those of his rivals. Despite being socially conservative, Huckabee has also managed to pick up praise and political cooperation from Bill Clinton. Whilst staunchly Republican, Huckabee was one of the few politicians with the personal appeal, and bravery to face left-wing comedians on live television in the last election campaign, appearing both on the Colbert Report and in interview with Jon Stewart.

The time has come to look closely at Mike Huckabee. For a large number of people, his views will be considered extreme, and possibly bizarre, but Huckabee is testing the waters on a 2012 campaign and with some cause to be taken seriously.