Idea of the day: a directly elected government

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Idea of the day: a directly elected government

06.10.2009 // by Guy Aitchison

This idea comes from Simon in Brentwood:

What's the big idea?:

Separation of legislative and executive powers has been lost, with the government of the day, through the whips, wielding parliament like a glorified rubber stamp. That deprives parliament of its ability to properly hold the government to account. The conflict of interests between being a government minister, and being an elected representative of the people, should be obvious.

A separately elected government, once again accountable to parliament, would restore the proper separation of executive and legislative powers. Combined with, say, proportional representation, parliament can properly represent the people, hold government to account, and keep government in its proper place.

Having a separately elected government, there would be no need for such things as coalition deals in hung parliaments. The government of the day will have to win the support of the majority of parliament, representing the majority of the people, for its legislative desires. Parliament will be able to get on with legislating without interference by government.

A suitable voting system, such as range voting or approval voting, could be used for electing the government, so that it is a reasonable consensus choice of the majority of voters.

Why is this change important to you?:

I don't feel adequately represented in a parliament dominated by a government that can only claim a little more than a third of the vote for its claimed democratic legitimacy. I would also not feel adequately represented if my MP was working full time within the government - my MP's supposed to be working full time as our elected representative!

This change is also important to me since it fits neatly with proportional representation, which I also believe is needed.