The 55 Percent Rule, Explained

A reader cuts to the chase:

It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? The Tories have 306 out of 650 seats, or 47%. Therefore, they have enough seats to block a dissolution of Parliament, if they hold together.

Bingo. The question, of course, is whether an arrangement precisely tailored to get Britain through one parliament is a good rule to govern forever thereafter. There is no written constitution, remember. If this provision passes the Commons, it becomes the constitution. A fascinating Canadian perspective here.

2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan