§ Q11 Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East)What assessment he has made of the operation of the systems for electing members of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
§ e Prime MinisterI believe that the Scottish and Welsh elections, which were carried out for the first time in the United Kingdom under the additional member system, operated effectively, and I pay tribute to all those officials and others who helped to ensure that that was the case. Of course, we shall look into how the detailed arrangements worked in practice.
§ Dr. LewisIs it not blindingly obvious, even to the Prime Minister, that what proportional representation did in Scotland and in Wales was, as usual, to deprive the winning party of a working majority and force it into coalition with a party that came not even second or third, but fourth—namely, the Liberal party? Will he now assure the House once and for all that that distorting and undemocratic system of proportional representation will never be used for Westminster parliamentary elections?
§ The Prime MinisterI really do not understand the Tories at all. If we had used the old system, there would have been no Tories in the Scottish Parliament and only one in the Welsh Assembly. The hon. Gentleman should be thanking me for my unprecedented generosity.