[visage]

The new party doesnt necessarily have to win. Just getting enough MPs to hold the balance of power would be a spectacular success - and that could be as low as a couple of dozen.

[MisterMuncher]

Broad strokes, ymmv etc, but as a rule, Tories don't jump ship whilst they're in power. Power before party before personal before country.

[Boiler]

No, this will be a disaster. Politics is inherently tribal and based on a two-party system with the odd exception and works on a 'tried, trusted and true' basis with the established parties. And as has been said elsewhere in this thread, it's the Tories that always benefit from a split in the vote.

[visage]

What if both tribes are run by cunts?

[Boiler]

Doesn't matter. It's a tribe to belong to. And no party is interested in PR.

[crabcakes_windermere]

Any new party is fucked until we get shot of FPTP, which neither Labour nor the Tories will ever do.

The best shot of it happening is a coalition where electoral reform is part of the coalition deal and not something that is put to the public where the Tories and Labour will both stand for the status quo. And that's not likely to happen anyway.

Otherwise, what will happen is that even if a new party do well enough to get a few MPs, they'll be the junior partner in a coalition at best and get screwed over as the Lib Dems were - the Tories took seats off of them because their more right-wing supporters were disappointed they weren't Tory enough, and Labour took seats off of them because their more left-wing supporters were disappointed they went in with the Tories at all/didn't stop them from being the Tories. And the reality is they more or less held the worst of the Tories in check and prevented an undiluted Tory minority rule, a 2nd general election when the Tories always have more funding so could have done better, or an earlier incarnation of fun with the DUP, as we're saddled with now.

In summary: good luck to them. They'll need it.

[The Red Arrow]

I'd support an end to FPTP and the confrontational format of Parliament. The whole system is in need of dragging into the 21st century.

[Andy McDandy]

Which will not happen because it's just too damned convenient for the people in it.

[Daley Mayle]

I read somewhere that Tony and Son Of Tony are behind the emerging Third Way Party.

That's that idea fucked straight off.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Why?