Secondary mandate
Encyclopedia
The secondary mandate is a proposed system for indirectly electing the UK parliament's second chamber, as espoused by singer-songwriter-activist Billy Bragg
.
The Secondary Mandate works by counting up the first past the post General Election votes by party at a regional level, and then distributing each party a number of seats roughly proportionately.
The system has attracted support from a number of Government ministers including Peter Hain
and Lord Falconer of Thoroton. It has however been criticised for being little more than a system of appointment as the closed list system it uses puts too much power into the hands of the political parties themselves. It also greatly disadvantages smaller parties who may not field candidates in all constituency seats.
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
.
The Secondary Mandate works by counting up the first past the post General Election votes by party at a regional level, and then distributing each party a number of seats roughly proportionately.
The system has attracted support from a number of Government ministers including Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
and Lord Falconer of Thoroton. It has however been criticised for being little more than a system of appointment as the closed list system it uses puts too much power into the hands of the political parties themselves. It also greatly disadvantages smaller parties who may not field candidates in all constituency seats.