Ever Felt Had?

Reforms to be introduced relatively quickly are set to include fixed-term Parliaments and a review of constituencies to reduce the number of MPs after the next election. There will also be a wholly or mostly-elected House of Lords.

There will not be another election until May 2015 unless a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by an “enhanced majority” of Parliament. It is not yet clear what the enhanced majority would be but it could be two-thirds or three quarters of MPs.

Central to the deal is a proposed referendum on introducing an additional vote system. Legislation to enable a referendum will probably be introduced in the first Queen’s Speech later this month – although the poll itself is unlikely before autumn 2011 at the earliest. The Conservatives will campaign in the referendum against the change. From the Daily Telegraph

Just a few hours in power and I can't help the feeling that the Conservative party leadership are doing exactly what every party political leadership does - covering its own arse. Promised a referendum on electoral reform we now find out that it will be the best part of eighteen months before that takes place. Most extraordinary is the prospect of legislation being introduced which brings the phrase 'enhanced majority' into the political lexicon and which sets that enhanced majority at between 66% and 75%, that's a minimum of 429 MP's.

As the O'Jays so eloquently put it on the 1973 hit Backstabbers:

"What they do?
They smiling in your face, all the time they wanna take your place,
Backstabbers."

Let's just hope that Nick Clegg can sleep at night.