The Independent Group

krish

No doubt someone will call them this unfortunate name... perhaps this Labour councillor:

Veteran councillor suspended for ‘racist’ remark - Barnsley News from the Barnsley Chronicle

Sonic67

Never ever been the case. You vote for the candidate not the party. To that end they sometimes don't even have to give the official party name on the ballot ... remember that one by-election during Cameron's early days as Tory leader when his candidate's affiliation was given as Dave Cameron's Conservatives?

UKIP pulled a great PR stunt with their defections from the Tories - Reckless & Carswell - with them resigning and triggering by-elections; however when Carswell then ditched UKIP to go independent, he didn't do this.

Sonic67

Apparently all the Tory Tiggers promised to respect the result.

Heidi Allen's Desperate 'We Haven't Changed' Fib To Avoid By-Elections -

Bl4ckGryph0n

Of course if they are confident the electorate voted for them and not their party they could trigger a by-election.

richp007

Two words; Vince Cable....He is another huge problem in politics...

Sonic67

BBC reporter said at lunch there is supposedly another 12 Labour MP's joining by tomorrow night.

No mention of Tories though. However depending where you read and who you believe, possibly as many as 20 more will be joining in the coming weeks. It seems like as many have committed, but in order to keep the momentum going and the group constantly in the headlines, they will be staggering the process.

nheather

Funny how they want another vote but not for themselves.

krish

Do you really believe that.  Yes I know that it is the candidates name on the ballot paper and legally that is who you are voting for but it also has the party they are representing.  Bit unethical if they present themself as representing that party and then they don’t, especially as the party paid for you them to promote themself and to stand.

And ultimately your vote translates into getting a party into power.

I and I suspect most (by a long way) vote for the candidate representing the party they want in power.  I suspect many have no idea who the candidate they are voting for is, let alone who the other candidates.

Maybe it would be fun to switch to blind voting - the ballot sheet just says A, B, C, D, etc. and there are matching statements made by the secret candidates.  And you vote for the one you like the sound of.  Seriously, that is about the only way that what you are suggesting would hold true.

If those break away MPs really beleived that they got an overwhelming margin because of who they are and not the party they stood for should resign and force an by-election, then they would be able to hold their heads up high and say they were elected by the people.

Cheers,

Nigel

nheather

Doesn't matter what you or I believe, that is what we are constitutionally doing, hence no constitutionally mandated by-election. Was just being (constitutionally) factual .

Pacifico

Perhaps the Recall Act needs amending?. After all if it is illegal to lie when advertising a packet of soap powder why shouldn't it be illegal to lie when advertising yourself for elected office. The 3 amigos all lied to get elected - if they just had a genuine change of heart after being elected then they should stand for re-election based on their new found principles.