Tempting as it is to write at length on Environment Minister, Jane Davidson's batty idea to use regional list seats to to encourage celebrities, sport stars and businesspeople to join the Welsh assembly as a form of secondment, I really cannot motivate myself to do so.
There are a whole host of reasons why this is not the way forward, not least because it re-writes the Government of Wales Act which adopted the d'hondt top up system as a means of achieving political and geographical balance (Although a proper STV system of PR would have been much more sensible).
Jane suggests that her proposal will help boost the range and appeal of the Assembly but I do not see her putting forward the same idea for the House of Commons. I do not want to come across like the professional politician I undoubtedly am but if all these people want to contribute then they should stand for election in their own right, either by joining a political party or putting themselves forward as an independent. That is democracy.
Despite my disapproval I did though feel that the comment about Jane Davidson on the occasionally-Labour-supporting blog Inside Out at Swansea and elsewhere was a tad bitchy. They concluded:
Without making any up-front mention of the arrangements for ‘appointments’ to the House of Lords, La Davidson, asks:
"Could parties support the idea of using their own top-up lists not only to support equality, but to bring talented non-politicians into the Assembly e.g. top business people, entrepreneurs, successful principals of colleges, vice-chancellors of universities, environmentalists, third sector chief executives, sports stars, media stars … the list goes on”
Whilst left pondering as whether the above bit of rhetorical gives a hint in the direction of her planned careers moves we can’t somehow help feel that the question reinforces a widely held conviction that her enduring contribution to the Welsh political scene will be her retirement.
Could it be that the Environment Minister is not flavour-of-the day with some members of the Swansea Labour Party?
No comments:
Post a Comment