Have you ever noticed, when things are going wrong, that no one ever actually voted for those in power?

It's amazing. Six months after a unanimous internal election (in which I was the scrutineer) I had at least six people assure me that the candidate's later defection wasn't their fault. They'd seen his faults from the start and voted for the other guy. Was the election a fix? Should I demand an enquiry? No. I dealt with every ballot paper myself. The actual result wasn't announced, just the winner, to avoid embarrassment but every ballot paper is kept for evidence if needed at a later date. The successful candidate won fair and square and, what's more, the people assuring me they didn't vote for him knew it.

Selective amnesia is bad enough but what I've also noticed is people using voting for the opposition as a perfect excuse to knock democracy. When we don't like a result we work to change it next time: that's the joy of fixed terms. This is p

articularly dangerous in internal elections, such as for the leadership of a political party. By fighting each other and not accepting the majority vote we lose sight of the real opposition out there. And the media love it.

Accept what you've got and work to change it next time around. That's democracy.

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