Guest Post: A proposition aimed at making List MPs more accountable

A guest post from a reader:

Have each party list ranking order determined by voters rather than the political parties.

To do this, each prospective MP would be required to stand in an electorate. The list ranking order is then determined by the proportion of votes each prospective MP secured in their electorate.

Consider a party which secured 15% of the party vote which entitles them to 18 seats in parliament. Assume they won 12 electorates; they are therefore entitled to another 6 . Rank all their unsuccessful prospective MPs by the proportion of votes each won in their electorate (.e. their personal vote, not the party vote). If the six secured proportions of 23%, 22%, 20%, 20%, 19% and 18% then any other prospective MP secured less than 18% would not be in parliament as a List MP.

 

Each prospective MP then has an incentive to campaign in an electorate; the more successful they are at doing that, the greater the chance they have of becoming a List MP. It would also encourage prospective MPs to work hard in their electorate between elections and not just at the time of an election.

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