Talking politics on Magpie Lawn

Remember when election nights were a big event? You'd get a load of people around, feed them, lubricate them with hops & grape based hydrocarbons... pour scorn on the politicians & studio experts, watch the election results come in and hope like hell your side won?

Now I like MMP, but I have to admit it has had a negative impact on Election night, one we should have foreseen, but didn't.

It should have been obvious: After the first MMP election, on October 12, 1996, even though all the results were in at the end of the evening, the country was left for several weeks not knowing who would govern, as Winston partied back & forth between National & Labour negotiating a bigger office & a chair that swivelled.

This is not a satisfactory state of affairs, for anyone but Winston. To be honest, I don't know what the solution is, but I think maybe there ought to be a Commission of Enquiry or something, to think of some way to reclaim Election Night for the voters.