What if Independents won the most votes?

NIMAN

Hypothetical question, with the rise of the Independent in recent elections, what if the voting public became more disillusioned with the mainstream parties and the majority voted in for the next GE were independents?

Can a pile of unconnected individuals form a Government?

Surely it couldn't work? Who would be leader of the country, etc?

enda1

NIMAN wrote: »

Hypothetical question, with the rise of the Independent in recent elections, what if the voting public became more disillusioned with the mainstream parties and the majority voted in for the next GE were independents?

Can a pile of unconnected individuals form a Government?

Surely it couldn't work? Who would be leader of the country, etc?

They'd fall into quasi party structures and maybe even form parties. The leader/instigator of the larger of these parties would be voted Taoiseach, or else they wouldn't form one and back to the ballot box with ye.

Zed Bank

I don't think it would ever happen, so im assuming people wouldn't ponder it. Independents aren't designed to form a government on there own, they are more of a filler than anything else.

I know its not an answer, but there ya go.

expectationlost

they would vote on it like every other dail

nesf

They'd be forced to form some kind of ad-hoc party (or parties) structure(s) and form some kind of coalition in the Dáil. Or some kind of minority Government might form, e.g. Sinn Fein with the backing of a sizeable number of independents (though this might not occur as this would be very unstable and unlikely to last a full term normally unless they've a large majority between them). Otherwise, we'd have to back to the polls and we'd have to elect something that could form a Government.


There's nothing in theory stopping some Grand Rainbow Coalition of 5 or 6 different groups of Independents though. It's just unlikely to survive past the first series of tough decisions needing to be made.

comongethappy

Stephen Donnelly would be taoiseach.

Peace & Prosperity would reign until the voters became sick of all that.

Good loser

The Independents would be terrified of another quick election or two. They would be caught between a rock and a hard place. The cost/uncertainty of an election and their promises - so called..

nesf

Good loser wrote: »

The Independents would be terrified of another quick election or two. They would be caught between a rock and a hard place. The cost/uncertainty of an election and their promises - so called..

The bigger problem would be they've all promised different things for different places and haven't run on some common platform. Can you imagine the Budget if we weren't naturally going to run a hefty surplus? :S

Godge

Good loser wrote: »

The Independents would be terrified of another quick election or two. They would be caught between a rock and a hard place. The cost/uncertainty of an election and their promises - so called..

Interesting theory

In 1981 general election there were 8 independents and small parties elected. February 1982 saw the number drop to 7 and the third election in less than two years saw the number drop further to 5.

It was back up to 8 by 1987, nearly five years later.

There may be something for the argument that long breaks between elections suits independents.

nice_guy80

I think they'd do fine.

There'd be no whip system.

They could vote with their conscious.

enda1

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I think they'd do fine.

There'd be no whip system.

They could vote with their conscious.

It's the whip system that allows parliament to function. Otherwise it would be 166 bickering children with their own parochial views to put forward. Compromise is the oil of functioning governance.

Fred Swanson

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nesf

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

More nail biting count action? Sign me up! (only half joking )