I’d like to see some evidence that this is the case. London voters seem to have a good understanding of Mayor vs borough responsibilities. Scottish voters have Parliament, Westminster and local government. So you do think English voters are uniquely stupid? - ThreadSky

danharkin.bsky.social • 76 days ago

I’d like to see some evidence that this is the case. London voters seem to have a good understanding of Mayor vs borough responsibilities. Scottish voters have Parliament, Westminster and local government. So you do think English voters are uniquely stupid?

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danharkin.bsky.social•76 days ago

What I *think* voters are responding to in local elections in the fact that in the UK local govt has little power. It is rational to treat them as proxies for national elections because that is the only real way for voters to affect the services they receive.

paulgriffiths77.bsky.social•76 days ago

I agree with your second point (little power) but that doesn't negate the first point (that it is confusing).

BTW unlike you, I don't think that makes English voters stupid. It just means most rational people don't spend their spare time understanding byzantine local government before voting!

danharkin.bsky.social•76 days ago

Except i don’t think English voters are stupid. My point is that two tier local government is hardly complex and I don’t see any evidence that voters struggle to understand it. Indeed in London, voters are clearly able to understand the difference in powers and functions of the different tiers.

danharkin.bsky.social•76 days ago

The reason I find you argument (something is complex so voters don’t understand it) is that is also frequently used to argue against electoral reform. If you’re right, the answer is surely better political education rather than suboptimal local govt reform?

danharkin.bsky.social•76 days ago

And on your specific point of waste collection vs waste disposal: in London in turned out unitary authorities lacked capacity and it is frequently argued resp should be transferred to the Mayor. Do you think Londoners won’t understand and therefore we should abolish the boroughs?

nullmatrix876.bsky.social•76 days ago

I have lived in both unitary and D-C areas and the biggest issue I have found is that social care is managed by CCs, which are all electorally noncompetitive so there's no incentive to make things more equal for disabled children when the disabled are already a small fraction of the electorate.

paulgriffiths77.bsky.social•76 days ago

1. London is very different from your typical region in the UK. Counties are a mix of rural and largish towns!
2. PR is hardly complex (most voters would expect seats proportional to votes)
3. How would you (force?) educate people to a local government system.

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