Wanna Be In My Gang?
Right … the problem appears to be that people don’t understand how it works here in the UK.
Our system is not a party system and political parties actually have no legal status here … no power of any kind — they’re not illegal, they’re just not part of the picture … not legislated for.
Fuck all the rest … we vote for an individual to send to Parliament to represent our own selfish interests against all comers and we don’t give a toss about anyone else.
Once in Parliament, our representative finds like minded others, with whom they can do mutually beneficial deals … form mutually beneficial alliances … on an ad hoc basis — some of those alliances might last years, but that is immaterial … they are not legally bound to do so.
When the time comes for a new government to be formed, the monarch of the day invites one of them to lead it as ‘Prime Minister’.
That leader then forms a ‘Cabinet’ around them, appointing others, from amongst the elected MPs, to positions of ministerial leadership in different branches or areas that they think/feel are necessary to ensure the smooth running of the nation … to administer things — Ministers ‘minister (to) the nation.
By precedent, the Executive consists of the others with whose support the leader wishes to govern (typically, those members of their own party who were elected to Parliament) and is commonly referred to as ‘the Government’.
The nation is not, however, governed solely by the Cabinet and the Executive — it’s not quite as simple as we are led to believe (we are not really governed solely by the Executive).
To use a nautical analogy, the Prime Minister is the Admiral of the fleet, the various members of the Cabinet are the captains of the various ships, the Executive are the NCOs and the Legislature make up the rest of the crew.
In effect, we are not governed solely by the Prime Minster/Cabinet/Executive (the ‘Government’) but by the entire membership of Parliament (both the Executive and the Legislature). That is, government is effected by all the MPs put together and the Cabinet is merely the high table at which the officers sit alongside the captain … the crew consisting of all members of Parliament, not just the officers and the captain, so to speak … and the Legislature can block the Government’s plans by voting against them —they can mutiny as it were.
Some time ago, a number of ‘clubs’ were formed, which like minded individuals could join as parties of interest (or interested parties) … parties of political interest who would provide mutual support in order to aid each other with their aims — you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours … you watch my back and I’ll watch yours … you vote in favour of my proposed legislation and I’ll vote in favour of yours.
For a sizeable portion of Parliament’s history, the most sizeable groups were the Conservatives and the Whigs.
The Whigs later changed their name to ‘Liberal’.
Later still, the ‘Labour’ group of MPs was formed.
Later even than that, the Social Democrats.
Then the Social Democrats merged with the Liberals and formed the Social Democratic Liberal Party.
They changed their name to the Liberal Democrats.
Other groups formed along the way as well — the Greens, UKIP, the National Front, the BNP, etc., etc., etc.
As stated, however, none of these parties has any legal status and the Prime Minister is free to choose anyone they like, regardless of any political interest groups to which their chosen cabinet members might belong.
In fact there is no reason why a given MP should not belong to multiple groups as parties of interest / interested parties — the only deciding factor is whether the rest of the group is willing to admit them without insisting that they renounce their membership of all others.
So … get it out of your head that you even do … never mind are obliged to … vote for a political party in the UK; you do not: you vote for someone to represent your own, selfish, interests, no more and you are perfectly at liberty to vote for an independent candidate.
Membership of a political party may be a useful indicator of what kind of person a given candidate might be … what kinds of policies they might vote in favour of or against … but that is all it is.
Do not let yourself be fooled by the myths these special interest groups… for that is all they are … have encouraged around them. Vote for the individual you think will truly represent you and (fuck everyone else) fight for your interests against all comers and odds — you are employing them to do so, not funding the membership fees of their preferred extracurricular activity.
You do not vote for a club.
You do not vote for someone to be whipped into line by a club’s leader and to do as they are ordered, by someone you did not vote for, who represents others’ interests elsewhere in the nation and not yours.
You’re a fool if you do, because that is not how the UK system of government has ever functioned — you’ve just been told it does by people who want to ensure your representative has less influence than they do themselves.
