UK general election (May 5th)

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There are many differences, but the one that strikes me in particular is Britain’s parliamentary system with first past the post voting.

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The US uses (at least in the US House of Representatives, as well in the state legislatures) exactly the same single member districts, contested in first past the post elections that the UK does. The only difference is that in the UK the party leadership determines who the party candidate in a given district is, while in the US the candidate must not only be a resident of the district, but she is chosen by primary election or party caucuses.

And one similarity between the US and UK systems is first past the post elections, which you initially claimed was a difference.One major difference between the the US and UK systems is that in the UK the party directly chooses who will run in which districts, giving the safest districts to higher up leaders and loyal party members. This leads to more loyalty to the party platform in parliament (fewer cross-over votes, I imagine, than in the US Congress), and as a result in the UK you are usually voting for the party, whereas in the US people are often voting for the personality.Funny, though -- maybe some of our British comrades should be commenting on this.

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My favorite policy is the creation of a 99p coin to save on change.

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I wonder how many people are angry they didn't think of it first?