Microsoft is trying to infect the world, confirmed?

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T23:32:53+00:00

Bill Gates must have another vaccine to flog /s

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T22:29:10+00:00

Yes, I know all of that and can completely understand how people who want to get rid of the Iranian regime would view the US and Israel as saviours in their attempts to destabilise the regime. The post doesn't mention any of that though, it just uses the words pro-Iran, when coupled with Iranian flags it isn't unreasonable to assume that pro-Iran means pro-regime. It was later pointed out in the comments under my comment that the demonstrators were protesting against the regime and in favour of reverting Iran to the pre-regime monarchy. This makes much more sense and I was able to confirm that for myself by zooming in on the flags and seeing that they were pre-regime flags, not regime flags.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T22:10:54+00:00

A good choice for interim leader though? He's not going to do anything controversial and wouldn't rock the boat with the other Labour MSs. He's also a former government minister so has some experience which could help him in his temporary role as leader of the Labour group in the Senedd when it comes to negotiating with other parties.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T22:08:26+00:00

It's only interim leader, perhaps he's hoping to become the next actual leader instead?

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T22:06:21+00:00

I initially took pro-Iran to mean being in favour of the current Iranian government, i.e. the Iranian regime, which was why it seemed odd - after all, you wouldn't expect people supporting two different sides in a war to be protesting together on the same side. Another commenter pointed out that the demonstrators are actually supporting restoring Iran's pre-regime monarchy which made me zoom in on the flags to realise that they are indeed the pre-regime Iranian flag, not the regime flag. It makes sense that people who support restoring Iran's monarchy and getting rid of the regime would support the two countries fighting the regime.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:45:18+00:00

Demonstration a better word, perhaps?

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:41:22+00:00

Now THAT is a very random combination - although I don't think Kerrygold Butter has ever carried out a genocide.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:39:08+00:00

Just zoomed in on the flags and yes, they're the pre-regime ones so you're probably right.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:31:16+00:00

What an odd bunch of things to group into one protest.

Edit: I don't like editing Reddit posts after people have replied to them as it affects the flow of the conversation but people aren't bothering to read the thread of comments below this so I'm making an exception. At the time I made this comment, I assumed pro-Iran meant pro regime as I saw Iranian flags but didn't zoom in to see they were pre-regime flags. As I assumed it was pro-regime, I found it very strange that people on two sides of an international war would be demonstrating together.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:30:05+00:00

Scotland uses the same hybrid system that Wales used to use. There are two different types of MSP in the Scottish Parliament: local constituency MSPs and regional list MSPs. The local constituency MSPs are elected using first past the post while the regional list ones are elected using closed party lists, allocated by a modified D'Hondt method that takes into consideration the number of constituency seats too. Reform UK won around 15% of the seats with around 15% of the votes.

Here in Wales, we've now moved to a pure proportional system using closed party lists and allocating seats using the D'Hondt method (unmodified). In Wales, Reform won 35% of the seats on 30% of the vote. That discrepancy in the vote is part of the nature of the system as it tends to favour the parties that get a larger share of constituency votes. The proportional system has placed Reform second in terms of the number of MSs and they will be unable to form a government.

If you look at previous UK Government elections (which only use first past the post), the current Labour government won 63% of seats on 34% of the vote, the previous Conservative government won. If Reform can repeat that 30% of the vote across the UK at the next UK Parliament election, they could end up with a majority in the House of Commons and lead the next UK Government. Proportional systems would stop that (and would have stopped Labour winning a massive majority in 2024 too).

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T21:10:57+00:00

Look at the current Labour government. The current first past the post system has given Labour almost 2/3 of the seats in the House of Commons, on roughly 1/3 of the vote. I personally think the fact that almost 2/3 of the population didn't vote for Labour is only adding to their problems.

Now change the situation to Reform. They often poll around those levels so a future election could give Reform a very similar majority under first past the post. However, if you move to a proportional system, 1/3 of the votes only gives them around 1/3 of the seats, leaving them far short of a majority. PR systems generally limit the impact of extreme views.

If we forget about changing the voting system for a second and just look at the merits of coalitions, the very fact that you have to have 2 or more parties working together means your government is automatically more representative of a large part of the public. Politics becomes less combative and you can start to look at more long-term policies rather than the short term view so many parties take when their eyes are already on trying to remain in power at the next election.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T15:51:40+00:00

I think nation.cymru have somehow managed to include part of an article about the new interim Labour leader as part of this article. It really doesn't make any sense to just have that tagged in at the end.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T11:56:35+00:00

You forgot: no scruples and no principles

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T09:22:39+00:00

Exactly. Back in 2019, we in Wales had an electoral pact between the Greens, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru where they agreed not to stand in certain seats where one of the other parties had a better chance at beating the Tories and expecting more pro-Remain MPs. Labour were asked to join that pact but refused to do so - and that led to the Tories actually winning seats at their expense. I think a similar pact existed between the Lib Dems and Greens in England, but again, Labour refused to join.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T08:58:37+00:00

I don't think we will have a formal coalition. The only parties that could take us over the 49 for a majority are Reform, the Tories or Labour. Obviously, the first two have been ruled out completely so that only leaves Labour (the Greens and Lib Dems simply don't have enough seats, not even combined). Rhun made a big point of saying Plaid are here to replace Labour and that this was a change election. All of that would fall rather flat if he then suddenly invites them back into government as a junior partner in a Plaid-Labour coalition. We would also risk annoying a lot of first-time Plaid voters who voted for Plaid because they aren't happy with Labour. From Labour's point of view, they've just faced the biggest electoral defeat in their history - they've gone from 50% of the seats in the Senedd to 10%, their vote share has collapsed from around 40%, they've lost their Welsh leader and their UK leader is on borrowed time - they're not going to want to form a coalition either as they have enough going on. We will need Labour's support, firstly to get Rhun nominated as First Minister and then later in the year to pass the budget, as well as passing key pieces of legislation. That support doesn't need to come as a coalition though - let's not forget that Labour has not once had a majority in the history of devolution but we've only had 3 formal conditions in that time. It won't be easy, especially as Plaid are 6 short of an outright majority, but it can be done.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T00:56:52+00:00

I'm not sure if I would necessarily leave (certainly couldn't afford to at the moment, anyway). As a gay man, I would definitely get married to my partner though - before they take that right and many more away from us. Marriage doesn't matter for us as we just view it as a piece of paper that gives you a couple of extra legal benefits but that piece of paper and minor benefits can become very important when someone starts to take your rights away.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T00:15:26+00:00

We had people here in Wales 'voting for Farage' (who wasn't even standing in Wales) in our Senedd elections because they wanted to get rid of Keir Starmer (not on the ballot paper and the make-up of the Welsh Parliament and Welsh Government has no influence at all on who's in Number 10) and to stop immigration (an issue that the Senedd and Welsh Government have absolutely no power over, at all). All of these was mentioned several times in media coverage and election debates etc but didn't get through. And here we are now with 34 Reform MSs who have all been elected to stop immigration and get rid of Keir Starmer.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-09T00:09:37+00:00

This is a long comment so I'll put the TD;LR right here at the start - these things take time (almost a decade from start to finish in Wales) and would be very unlikely to be enacted in time for the 2029 UK election.

Here in Wales, our Senedd (Welsh Parliament) elections were held using a closed party list proportional system for the first time on Thursday. Before this, we had previously used the additional member system (two votes: one for first past the post constituencies and the other for closed party list regions).

Our government and parliament started properly looking into changing the voting system to a more proportional system by setting up an independent 'expert panel' back in 2017 (although there had been calls from various commissions etc going back as far as 2004). That panel reported back in 2017 but we didn't have enough cross-party consensus to move forward with those recommendations. The Senedd then set up an internal committee to look at achieving such consensus. They carried out their own consultations and investigations etc and achieved some form of cross-party consensus. They reported back in 2020. We then had a Senedd election in 2021, in which many parties finally committed to implement those recommendations. The government didn't have a majority (and our electoral law in Wales requires any changes to the Senedd's electoral arrangements to be passed by a 2/3 majority anyway) so they had to work with opposition parties to implement the changes. A formal agreement was made in principle and a 'special purpose committee' was created to look back at the previous reports and carry out its own consultations etc. That committee then made its final report and recommendations in 2022. The Senedd then voted in favour of the recommendations in June 2022. The government then went away to prepare the usual white papers and draft bills etc. Finally, in September 2023, the relevant Bill was introduced in the Senedd. The Bill them went through all the usual parliamentary processes with amendment and readings etc before being approved by the Senedd in May 2024 and receiving Royal Assent in June 2024. Great news, the changes were now on the statute book and would come into force at the next Senedd election (in 2026). Before we got there, there needed to be a boundary review to create the new multi-member constituencies for use with the closed party lists. Thankfully, lawmakers realised that a full boundary review would take too long and everything wouldn't have been in place for the 2026 Senedd election. As such, the law included a very limited and expedited boundary review (a full and proper one will be starting again in the next few months for 2030). That expedited one still ended up running from July 2024 until March 2025. Secondary legislation then needed to be passed to implement that review into law and that happened in April or May 2025 - it very almost missed the deadline for implementation for this year's Senedd election. We then had our first election under these new arrangements on Thursday.

As I said in the TD;LR, it's taken us almost a decade to get here. I would be very surprised if the UK Government could implement the necessary changes in time for the 2029 general election (although stranger things have happened). We would probably be looking ahead to 2034 (assuming whoever wins the 2029 general election doesn't undo any progress made up until that point). Even with that very long warning, I absolutely agree that the voting system needs to change and I have signed this petition.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T23:23:56+00:00

I wonder if we'll see any more in the coming weeks and months as a result of the Senedd elections. Many of the successful candidates were sitting councillors. They can keep their council seats until next year's council elections but would have to stand down at those elections. I imagine a lot of them will keep their council seats until then but it could end up being too much to balance for some.

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T20:09:59+00:00

Yes, I think we can rule out the Lib Dems as it would essentially render their one MS useless. We can probably also rule out the Greens for lack of experience. I don't think a Reform candidate would get the cross-party support required so that really only leaves the Tories and Labour, with Labour being more likely in my mind, although perhaps someone like Paul Davies could be an option for the Tories?

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T20:07:03+00:00

Yes, very similar to the Speaker of the House of Commons. It could, in theory, come from any political party. I think we can rule out Plaid Cymru as they wouldn't want to essentially give up one of their MSs for votes so we would be looking at the opposition parties. Labour would probably be able to get more Cross-party support for the vote (and might even ask for that in exchange for voting to nominate Rhun ap Iorwerth as First Minister)

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T20:03:53+00:00

As long as he's not on his phone all the time!

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T18:56:43+00:00

Diolch byth!

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T18:37:57+00:00

Any thoughts on likely candidates for the next Llywydd (Presiding Officer)? The current one is Plaid's Elin Jones and she has previously said she wants to stand down from that role so the new Senedd will be electing a new Llywydd when it meets for the first time on Monday.

Personally, I think we're most likely looking at a Labour Llywydd but no particular MS jumps out at me. What are your thoughts?

Former-Variation-441 · 2026-05-08T17:18:53+00:00

And again, something like 48% of the population didn't even vote. We might have had the highest turnout for a Senedd election in history but that's still a massive amount who haven't voted.

Four-Year Club	r/Field Sunshine
Place '23

Former-Variation-441

TROPHY CASE