> You could try preference voting, like Australia has (although
> we borrowed it from New Zealand)

I think (most) people in NZ might agree that changing from
FPP (first past the post - party with the most votes wins, no
matter how small the proportion of the total vote might be)
to MMP (mixed member proportional representation) has
probably made little difference in recent times. The reason
being that of the parties currently in coalition one, Labour, is
dominant and tends to push its policies through anyway. Although
it does make concessions to to its minority partner' policies to
get their support. But effectively coalition partners are of like
mind (or else they wouldn't be partners), and there will be
deals before the election to weed out "unsuitable" candidates,
so the nett result is likely similar to what would have happened
under FPP if Labour had won. Minor parties may win the
occassional battle for "niche policy" but the majority partner
has the Treasury. And that's what they really want

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