The end of Patronage

In a shock result the Commons has tonight voted for a wholly elected second chamber to replace the House of Lords. Perhaps not as surprising as it first seems given the ongoing cash for peerages investigation, but an incredibly important step towards a representative parliament.

Once the upper chamber is elected on a proportional system (even if it's the least democratic closed list system, which seems to be the current proposal) it will be very difficult to maintain "first past the post" for the Commons.

A representative parliament would mean the end of market-led politics, where the main parties chase an ever-shrinking number of swing voters in marginal seats, while ignoring the views of the majority of citizens who's votes count for little or nothing because they are cast in safe seats.