Our Real Rulers

A recent survey shows that nearly two-thirds of all Britons distrust Parliament & nearly three-quarters mistrust the political system, - as well as the (infamous) EU (hurrah!). Consistently, in the General Election of the 5th May, some 39% of the British electorate couldn’t be bothered to go out & vote, -- only about 61% did so. And so, with less than 22% of the electorate, Labour got more than 55% of the seats declared. The Tories had almost 20% of the electorate, & under 31% of the seats in Parliament. And so on -- see below. All this has triggered off the usual journalistic bluster about the need for ‘electoral reform’, etc., etc. But can it matter? 100% of the population hand over taxes -- indirect taxes; & a growing proportion are caught by direct taxes. Expanding numbers of government officials have well-established careers, with solid pensions at the end (an increasing percentage of national & local taxes go into pensions.)

To paraphrase Walter Bagehot’s penetrating observations: Government officials now constitute “the _efficient_ parts [of the English constitution] - those by which it, in fact, works & rules.” Elections & Parliament “act as a _disguise._ [They] enable our real rulers to change without heedless people knowing it."

% of electorate (% of Parliamentary seats)
Labour 21.6 (55.1)
Tories 19.8 (30.6)
Liberal Democrats 13.6 (9.6)
All other parties 6.4 (4.7)
Total voting 61.3% (644 seats declared)
Total not voting 38.7%