I have always been a supporter of proportional representation but I am now questioning it. The experience in Ireland where FF and FG have stitched up power to the exclusion of the party that received the most votes demonstrates that it is not the route to a democratic utopia. 1

Also, PR would give a disproportionate influence to minor parties who would inevitably end up as kingmakers to either the Tories or Labour. That is the stuff of grubby backroom deals. If I vote for a party based on its manifesto, it makes it a nonsense if half of it is ditched 2

in order to accommodate coalition partners. If I vote Labour, I don't want to see the manifesto I have campaigned and voted for watered down, otherwise what is the point of having a manifesto at all. 3