{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Sgwrs Tei Bow","provider_url":"http:\/\/52.19.228.105\/cy","author_name":"Clarke Roberts","author_url":"http:\/\/52.19.228.105\/cy\/author\/clarke-roberts\/","title":"The Christian Case for Electoral Reform | Bow Tie Talks","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vhVPjc63s9\"><a href=\"http:\/\/52.19.228.105\/cy\/2016\/09\/30\/the-christian-case-for-electoral-reform\/\">The Christian Case for Electoral Reform<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"http:\/\/52.19.228.105\/cy\/2016\/09\/30\/the-christian-case-for-electoral-reform\/embed\/#?secret=vhVPjc63s9\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;The Christian Case for Electoral Reform&#8221; &#8212; Bow Tie Talks\" data-secret=\"vhVPjc63s9\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=http:\/\/52.19.228.105\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Polling-station.jpg","thumbnail_width":569,"thumbnail_height":361,"description":"It&#8217;s a topic many within the political sphere talk about, but far fewer want to see anything done about it. The issue of electoral reform has been on the Liberal agenda for decades and more recently has gathered support from UKIP, the SNP, the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and even from some within the Labour Party! But even when the public were asked in a 2011 referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote system, there appeared no appetite for change. The 2015 General Election yielded the most disproportionate results in modern history and reignited the demand for the introduction of Proportional Representation, making the number of seats a party wins match the number of votes they receive. There have been so many political, sociological and in some case, moral arguments put forward for the introduction of PR, but why should Christians fight and campaign for PR? What&#8217;s the theological case to be made for electoral reform? During the process of researching for my Master&#8217;s dissertation, I interviewed a number of people from within the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. I asked them questions about their faith and their politics, in an attempt to understand how they interact with each other. When I asked them about the key political issues that they cared about most, it became blindingly obvious that there was one issue about which all Liberal Democrats were concerned: electoral reform. Whether introducing proportional representation, reforming the House of Lords or giving 16 and 17 year-olds the vote, there was a clear desire to see British democracy reformed and modernised, to further reflect the diverse and equal society so many of us claim to be part of. One of the easiest arguments to articulate in favour of electoral reform from a Christian perspective, is the idea of fairness and equality. It&#8217;s often accepted by Christians that Jesus taught us to love one another and treat each other with dignity and respect, regardless of where someone is from, but what our current electoral system demonstrates is a clear bias to those who support one of the two largest parties; either the Conservatives or the Labour Party. In a system where a party can receive fewer votes than their rival yet still win control, people&#8217;s voice are silenced because they support one of the smaller parties in the UK. Parliament is not representative of how people vote; where is the UKIP representation? Where is the Lib Dem representation? Where is the Green representation? First-Past-the-Post is unfair and treats too many people with ignorance as it makes their vote worthless. The second Christian argument for implementing electoral reform comes from the work of Robert Song. He argues: \u2026people receive from God, the right to self-government\u2026while God is the ultimate source of political authority, the people are granted the right to be the proximate source of authority. As such, they are entitled to confer authority on the ruler or ruling regime\u2026 (1997:197) Based on this, it can be taken to meant that the governing force [&hellip;]"}