What would the BC legislature look like under a fair voting system?

What would the British Columbia legislature look like under a fair voting system?

On the votes as cast in 2013, an overall proportional result is 39 Liberals, 34 New Democrats, 7 Greens, 4 Conservatives, and independent Vicky Huntington.

But that misses the real point: the 58% turnout. When every vote counts, the turnout will not only be higher, but young voters and other marginally-involved voters will change BC’s political universe. Instead of an empty campaign of two parties attacking (or failing to attack) each other, voters will have more choices, more reasons to vote.

Still, all we can do with the votes as cast is project the fair result.

Which Proportional System?

In the 2009 referendum, 66% of BC voters were in favour of some proportional system, but perhaps not STV.

As explained in this blog post, BC has two likely options for a fair voting system for provincial elections. The British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform designed two systems in 2004: BC-STV, and Open-list MMP.

Without polling data on voters’ second choices, I can’t project the result under BC-STV. And in a country with as much geography as Canada, fitting our geography into the voting system is the major design issue, not easy with STV.

The Mixed Member Proportional system

MMP is the system invented by British political scientists in 1946 in the British Zone of West Germany. It took the old German proportional representation system and grafted British personal MPs into it. “Personalized proportional representation” the Germans called it. “The best of both worlds” said political scientists.

You have two votes: one for local MLA, one for regional MLA which counts as a vote for your party. Your local MLA competes to serve you, and to represent you, with your regional MLAs. You can vote for the candidate you like best for local MLA without hurting your party, since your second vote counts to put parties into government. In the last election in New Zealand, 31% of voters "split" their votes: they cast their local vote for a candidate who does not represent the party for which they cast their party vote.

With the CA’s regional "Open list" version, voters can vote for whomever they like out of the regional candidates nominated by the party's regional nomination process. The elected Regional MLAs are the party's regional candidates who get the highest vote on the regional ballot. The German province of Bavaria does this too.

Power to the voters

An exciting prospect: voters have new power to elect who they like. New voices from new forces in the legislature. No party rolls the dice and wins an artificial majority. Cooperation will have a higher value than vitriolic rhetoric. One-party dominance by the Premier’s office will, at last, be out of fashion. Governments will have to listen to MLAs, and MLAs will have to really listen to the people. MLAs can begin to act as the public servants they are.

Based on the Ontario and BC experience, many reformers now think open-list MMP with regional lists is the only system likely to be acceptable to Canadians.

Competing MLAs

Instead of having only a local MLA -- whom you quite likely didn’t vote for -- you can also go to one of your regional MLAs. On this projection, most regions will have at least one regional MLA from each of the three parties. Even Northern voters, assuming they elected three local Liberals and two local New Democrats, would have elected one regional MLA from each party. Even Vancouver Island voters, where I expect NDP voters would have elected six of the nine local MLAs, would also have elected one regional NDP MLA. That’s because the CA wisely chose a model with 40% regional MLAs.

Local districts and regions

The 51 local BC districts would each have about 91,000 people (smaller in the North, no doubt). The CA ran out of time before settling details like the number of regions, which might have been four, five or six; I’m using six, electing a total of 34 regional MLAs.

What would the legislature look like?

For an example, let’s see what the BC legislature would have looked like under this model on the votes cast in 2013. (It might have been similar under BC-STV.)

Again, this projection assumes voters voted as they did in 2013. In fact, more would have voted. And some would have voted differently -- no more strategic voting. We would likely have seen different candidates -- more women, and more diversity of all kinds. We could have seen different parties. Who knows who might have won real democratic elections?

NDP voters would have elected more MLAs:

Many NDP voters are under-represented.

Surrey-Delta-Langley-Fraser Valley voters would elect 17 MLAs (10 local, 7 regional), including three more NDP MLAs: maybe Delta municipal councilor Sylvia Bishop, Surrey incumbent Jagrup Brar, and Chilliwack incumbent Gwen O'Mahony or Surrey restaurant owner Avtar Bains.

Voters in the Interior would elect 16 MLAs (10 local, 6 regional), including three more NDP MLAs: maybe Kamloops lawyer Kathy Kendall, Penticton biologist and author Dick Cannings, and incumbent MLA Harry Lali or Vernon’s CUPE 5523 President Mark Olsen.

Green Party voters would have elected seven MLAs, not just one.

Vancouver Island voters would elect 15 MLAs (9 local, 6 regional). Green Party voters in Vancouver Island would have elected two regional MLAs as well as Deputy Leader Andrew Weaver: maybe party leader Jane Sterk, and former Central Saanich Councillor Adam Olsen, the first First Nations Councillor elected in the District.

Vancouver-Richmond voters would elect 14 MLAs (8 local, 6 regional). Green Party voters would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Professional Engineer Matthew Pedley or drug policy reformer Jodie Emery?

In Burnaby-Tri-Cities-North Shore-Maple Ridge they would have elected a Green regional MLA: maybe Burnaby accountant and four-time candidate Carrie McLaren, or Horseshoe Bay teacher Richard Warrington (a school board member in Denmark), or Maple Ridge Professional Engineer Michael Patterson?

In Surrey-Fraser Valley-Delta-Langley they would have elected a Green regional MLA: maybe Fort Langley lawyer and legal studies teacher Lisa David, or Langley Bed and Breakfast owner Wally Martin, or Abbotsford businessman Aird Flavelle, or Surrey naturist Don Pitcairn?

In the Interior, they would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Kimberley musician and Arts Council President Laurel Ralston, or tour guide and founder of the Nelson Area Trails Society Sjeng Derkx?

Under-represented Liberals would have elected 3 more MLAs:

Liberal voters on Vancouver Island are under-represented. They would have elected three more Liberal MLAs: maybe Sooke Councillor Kerrie Reay, computer company president and past chair of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce Walter Anderson, and incumbent Ida Chong, or Powell River native Nick Facey (now a PhD business candidate at Simon Fraser University), or Saanich resident and former Ministerial Assistant Rishi Sharma.

Conservative Party voters would have elected four MLAs

Surrey-Delta-Langley-Fraser Valley Conservative voters would have elected a regional MLA, no doubt party leader John Cummins.

Burnaby-Tri-Cities-North Shore-Maple Ridge Conservative voters would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Party President and Port Moody skin patient  health care advocate Christine Clarke, or former MP Paul Forseth.

In the Interior, they would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Salmon Arm resident and project manager Tom Birch, or Vernon resident Scott Anderson (former Legislative Assistant to a Reform Party MP, and Chair of the BC Conservatives’ Public Finance Committee); or former Kelowna City Councillor Graeme James?

In the North, they would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Dawson Creek’s Kurt Peaks, former Sergeant in the Dawson Creek RCMP Detachment.

Regional independents

The CA never had time to decide whether independent candidates should be able to run for regional seats, as they can in Scotland. I‘d bet they would have said yes. Two independent candidates have won regional seats in the Scottish Parliament, and two more in local seats. STV fans like the way independents can win any STV seat. But they can win any seat in Scotland too, with regional MMP.

Maybe independent John van Dongen would have won a regional seat in Surrey-Fraser Valley-Delta-Langley? Maybe independent Bob Simpson would have won a regional seat in the Interior? Maybe independent Arthur Hadland would have won a regional seat in the North?

More choices, more women, minorities and younger candidates

With a choice of your party’s candidates on the regional ballot, we would elect more women. Polls show 94% of women voters want to see more women elected, but so do 86% of male voters.

And when parties nominate a group of candidates, not just one, they nominate more women. What regional convention, nominating five candidates, would nominate only one woman, or no minorities, or no young people?

Who would have been the government?

Contrary to what some Canadian newspaper headline-writers think, you cannot say the largest party will form the government. “Conservatives win!” say Canadian headline-writers even when Harper loses his bid for a majority. Compare the typical UK headline: “Britain wakes up to a hung Parliament.” No instant winner. Remember also 1985 in Ontario when Frank Miller lost his bid to win a majority. Who won? We found out only 26 days later when the Liberal-NDP Accord was signed. In most countries with more than two parties, coalitions are normal.

How would regional MLAs work?

In Scotland, most regional MSPs divide the region between them for constituency service purposes.

No “bed-sheet” ballots

Since local candidates can also be on the regional half of the ballot, voters might have had as many as ten of their party’s regional candidates to choose from, but not the “bed-sheet ballot“ found in some countries. So voters would have a real choice among a manageable number of competing candidates from the party they support.

In a 14-MLA region, suppose Party A’s voters cast 51% of the votes in the region, but elect only six of the eight local MLAs. They also elect one regional MLA. But if that MLA dies or resigns during the legislature term, the regional candidate with the next highest votes moves into that seat. A party must run a spare. But if the six local winners were also on the regional ballot, the party needed at least eight regional candidates, one elected, and one spare. To be safe, I can see them nominating ten regional candidates.

“Flexible list”

If the CA had chosen the “flexible list” variant, where you can vote for the list or for an individual on it, the ballot would have looked like the right half of the one recommended by the British Independent Commission on the Voting System (the Jenkins Commission). The voter casts one vote for local MLA, and one for their party and (if they wish) for their favourite of their party's regional candidates. This same model was recommended for Scotland by the Arbuthnott Commission as an improvement on their MMP system; but no action yet. The result is much the same with any open-list model: all MLAs have faced the voters, and no one has a safe seat.

Note: I have not tried to specify the exact calculation method, since this is only an exercise in projecting a sample possible result.

How would proportional representation work in Hamilton—Niagara—Brant?

NOTE: This post was completely revised Oct.15, 2014.

How would proportional representation work in Hamilton—Niagara—Brant, for federal elections? 

Polls show more than 70% of Canadians support proportional representation for Canadian elections. Canada’s Liberal Party has opened the door to start implementing PR within one year of the 2015 election. The NDP and Greens fully support PR. 

So this is no longer an academic discussion. This is a practical discussion: if Canada gets PR, how would it work in Hamilton—Niagara—Brant? Liberals should be interested: they were shut out here in 2011. 

Mixed Proportional

With the Mixed Proportional system, you elect more than one MP. You have competing representatives, likely including someone you helped elect. 

You have two votes. With one, you help elect a local MP as we do today. The majority of MPs would still be local MPs. 

With the other vote, you can vote for the party you want to see in government, and for your favourite of your party’s regional candidates. So you help elect a few regional MPs, topping-up the local results to make them match the vote shares. Every vote counts: it’s proportional. You can vote for the regional candidate you prefer: it’s personal. There are no closed lists. Voters elect all the MPs. 

Competing MPs

You can choose to go to your local MP for service or representation, or you can go to one of your regional MPs from a “top-up region” based in your area. 

Accountable MPs

This open list method was recommended both by our Law Commission and by the Jenkins Commission in the UK. Jenkins’ colourful explanation accurately predicted why closed lists would be rejected in Canada: additional members locally anchored are “more easily assimilable into the political culture and indeed the Parliamentary system than would be a flock of unattached birds clouding the sky and wheeling under central party directions.” Our own Law Commission said “allowing voters to choose a candidate from the list provides voters with the ability to select a specific individual and hold them accountable for their actions should they be elected." 

Every vote counts. Each province still has the same number of MPs it has today. No constitutional amendment is needed. Fair Vote Canada says “We must give rural and urban voters in every province, territory and regional community effective votes and fair representation in both government and opposition.”

What would regional MPs do?

How would regional MPs operate? The regional MPs would cover several ridings each. Just the way it’s done in Scotland. They could have several offices, just as Diane Finley already has offices in Simcoe and Dunnville.

Two models:

Under the Law Commission of Canada`s model, the 12 MPs Hamilton—Niagara—Brant voters will elect in 2015 would be in one “top-up” region. Under the “moderate” model inspired by the UK`s Jenkins Commission Report, they could be in two top-up regions. 

How would it work out?

So what would these two models look like?

This simulation is only if people voted as they did on May 2, 2011. When every vote counts, turnout will likely be at least 6% higher, and no one will have to cast a “strategic vote.” We would have had different candidates - more women, and more diversity of all kinds. We could even have different parties. Who can say what would be the result of real democratic elections?

Meanwhile, I’ve done simulations on the votes cast in 2011. 

One region

On the votes cast in 2011, the winner-take-all results in Hamilton—Niagara—Brant on the new 2015 boundaries would be eight Conservative MPs, four New Democrats, and no Liberals. Yet those voters cast only 46% of their votes for Conservatives, 31% NDP, 19% Liberals, and 3% Green. If every vote counted equally, Conservative voters would elect six MPs, New Democrat voters still four, and Liberal voters two MPs. 

Since I’m projecting from the 2011 votes, I’ll start with the 2011 candidates. Suppose the seven local MPs were (depending on local nominations in larger ridings) Conservatives Rob Nicholson, Diane Finley, Rick Dykstra in St. Catharines, Burlington’s Mike Wallace, Beamsville’s Dean Allison; and New Democrats David Christopherson and Chris Charlton. In that case, Liberal voters would have elected two regional MPs from across the region, New Democrat voters would also have elected two, and Conservative voters one. 

The regional MPs for each party would be the party’s regional candidates who ended up with the most support across Hamilton—Niagara—Brant. Liberal voters might have elected Flamborough’s Dave Braden who got 14,594 votes and Bev Hodgson in Niagara Falls (10,206), or Waterford’s Bob Speller (12,549), or Andrew Gill in St. Catharines (10,358), or Hamilton’s Marie Bountrogianni (8,787).  NDP voters might have elected Hamilton’s Wayne Marston (21,931) and Welland’s Malcolm Allen (21,917) or Brantford’s Marc Laferriere (16,351). Conservative voters might have elected David Sweet (30,240) or Brad Clark (17,567). (See technical note as to how close Green voters came to electing an MP.) 

Two regions

These smaller regions are intended to be “moderately” proportional, less likely to elect MPs from smaller parties like the Greens. But in return, they provide better geographic representation, and more accountable regional MPs. 

Niagara—Brant

On the votes cast in 2011, the winner-take-all results in this region on the 2015 boundaries would be five Conservative MPs and one New Democrat. Yet those voters cast only 50% of their votes for Conservatives, 27% for New Democrats, 19% for Liberals, and 4% for Greens. If every vote counted equally, Conservative voters would elect three MPs, New Democrat voters two, and Liberal voters one. 

Suppose the three local MPs (from larger ridings) were Conservatives Rob Nicholson, Diane Finley, and Rick Dykstra in St. Catharines.  In that case, NDP voters would elect two regional MPs, and Liberal voters one.  NDP voters might have elected Welland’s Malcolm Allen (who got 21,917 votes) and Brantford’s Marc Laferriere (16,351). Liberal voters might have elected Waterford’s Bob Speller (12,549), or Bev Hodgson in Niagara Falls (10,206), or Andrew Gill in St. Catharines (10,358). 

Hamilton

On the votes cast in 2011, the winner-take-all results in Hamilton (including Burlington) on the 2015 boundaries would be three Conservative MPs, three New Democrat MPs, and no Liberals. Yet those voters cast 42% of their votes for Conservatives, 35% for New Democrats, 19% for Liberals, and 3% for Greens. If every vote counted equally, Conservative voters would elect still three MPs, New Democrat voters two, and Liberal voters one. 

Suppose the three local MPs were (depending on local nominations in larger ridings) Conservatives Mike Wallace from Burlington, and New Democrats David Christopherson and Chris Charlton. In that case, Liberal voters would elect one regional MP, and Conservatives two. The regional MPs for each party would be the party’s regional candidates who ended up with the most support across the region. Liberal voters might have elected Flamborough’s Dave Braden who got 14,594 votes, or Hamilton’s Marie Bountrogianni (8,787). Conservative voters might have elected Ancaster’s David Sweet (30,240) and Brad Clark (17,567). 

Two models: summary

By using two regions, both regions are sure of keeping all six MPs. On the one-region model, in theory all five regional MPs might have been from one half of Hamilton—Niagara—Brant. And with only six MPs per region, the proportionality is more moderate. 

Regional candidates

How would party members nominate and rank a group of regional candidates? It could be done on-line, and with live conventions. Likely party members in each region would decide to nominate the same candidates nominated in the local ridings, and some additional regional candidates. (In Nova Scotia in 2011, in all 11 ridings the Liberals nominated only men. Additional regional candidates would surely have included some women. Since polls show 90% of Canadians want to see more women elected, we’ll elect women when given the chance.) 

But voters would have the final say, since they can vote for their party’s regional candidate they prefer. 

More choice

For local MP, you can vote for the candidate you like best without hurting your party, since the party make-up of parliament is set by the party votes. In New Zealand, 35% of voters split their votes that way. 

Canada-wide consequences.

With the new 30 MPs, on the 2011 votes transposed by Elections Canada onto the new boundaries, the winner-take-all results for the 338 MPs would be 188 Conservative, 109 NDP, 36 Liberal, 4 Bloc, and 1 Green. 

When every vote counts, the result is: 140 Conservatives, 104 NDP, 64 Liberals, 19 Bloc, and 11 Green, using full proportionality on province-wide totals. 

With these two mixed models, the projected results are 140 Conservatives, 106 or 108 NDP, 63 or 67 Liberals, 15 or 18 Bloc, and 8 or 11 Greens. Close to perfect proportionality, while keeping all MPs accountable to real local and regional communities. 

Hamilton is an NDP stronghold, so the NDP could lose a seat here with the two-region model. However, across Ontario NDP voters would elect eight more MPs than with winner-take-all, including one more in Niagara—Brant. 

Canadian diversity

As Stéphane Dion says "I no longer want a voting system that gives the impression that certain parties have given up on Quebec, or on the West. On the contrary, the whole spectrum of parties, from Greens to Conservatives, must embrace all the regions of Canada. In each region, they must covet and be able to obtain seats proportionate to their actual support. This is the main reason why I recommend replacing our voting system." 

This is not a partisan scheme. Unrepresented Conservative voters would elect eight more Quebec MPs than in 2011, one more in Newfoundland, one more in PEI, one more in Northern Ontario, and one more on Vancouver Island. 

Of course, proportional representation would mean a lot for Canada. We would not likely have a one party government’s Prime Minister holding all the power. (The last Prime Minister to get more than 50% of the votes was Brian Mulroney in 1984.) Parliament would reflect the diverse voters of every province. 

An exciting prospect: voters have new power to elect who they like. New voices from new forces in Parliament. No party rolls the dice and wins an artificial majority. Cooperation will have a higher value than vitriolic rhetoric. Instead of having only a local MP -- whom you quite likely didn’t vote for -- you can also go to one of your diverse regional MPs, all of whom had to face the voters. Governments will have to listen to MPs, and MPs will have to really listen to the people. MPs can begin to act as the public servants they are. And all party caucuses will be more diverse. 

With this kind of power-sharing, Canada would look quite different.

If we had a Proportional Representation voting system, here are only a few of the things Canadians could have accomplished over the past twenty years:
Ø Engaged and motivated voters
Ø A reinvigorated democratic system
Ø More women MPs and a fair mix of party representation 

Our electoral system is broken and people know it:
Ø Disengaged citizens are ignoring their right to vote
Ø A dysfunctional conflict-oriented political process
Ø Majority governments with minority voting results 

Poll results on proportional representation

Environics asked in 2013 “Some people favor bringing in a form of proportional representation. This means that the total number of seats held by each party in Parliament would be roughly equivalent to their percentage of the national popular vote. Would you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose moving towards a system of proportional representation in Canadian elections?”

Interviewing for this Environics National Telephone Survey was conducted between March 18th – 24th, 2013, among a national random sample of 1,004 adults. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. Result: support 70%, oppose 18%, depends 6%, don’t know 6%. 

The Environics poll showed 93% of Green voters support proportional representation while 4% oppose; 82% of NDP voters support it while 11% oppose; 77% of Liberal voters support it while 15% oppose; 62% of Conservative supporters support it while 28% oppose; and 55% of voters undecided as to party support PR while 19% oppose and 27% said “don’t know” or “depends.” 

This is not new. Poll results have shown this for 13 years.

Technical notes

The rounding method used in the simulation is highest remainder, for the same reason the Ontario Citizens Assembly chose it: it's the simplest. Germany used to use this too, on the premise that it offset the risk to proportionality of their 5% threshold. Similarly it offsets smaller region sizes. 

How close did Green voters come to electing an MP in Hamilton—Niagara—Brant?  If discouraged Green voters in these 12 ridings had cast another 7,450 Green votes, they would have elected an MP such as Hamilton’s Peter Ormond (2,963) or Jennifer Mooradian in St. Catharines (1,924), taking a seat from the Conservatives.

Would second preferences, used in the Jenkins-inspired model, have changed any results in 2011? Sometimes, using the EKOS poll taken April 28-30, 2011. In Hamilton in 2011, they might have helped Chris Charlton win in a larger Hamilton Mountain—Ancaster—Dundas riding.

How do regional MPs manage to serve large regions?

The Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system lets you elect regional MPs competing with your local MP to represent you. One question often asked is “how do regional MPs manage to serve large regions?”

Let’s see how this works in Scotland. After the Scottish Parliament was re-established in 1999, their first government (elected by MMP) was a stable coalition of Labour and Liberal Democrats. It lasted two terms, with a Scottish National Party opposition. In 2011 the Scottish National Party won a majority government. Today it has a minority government supported by the Green Party. In Canada, this system as recommended by the Law Commission of Canada would give us a Parliament reflecting our political diversity in each province. For the reasons well explained by Stéphane Dion, this would let the whole spectrum of parties, from Greens to Conservatives, embrace all the regions of Canada.

In the 2011 election, in Scotland’s semi-rural South Scotland region, Scottish National Party (SNP) voters elected a total of eight Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Labour voters elected four MSPs, Conservatives three, and Liberal Democrats one. When the nine local seats went four SNP, three Conservative, and two Labour, that left the seven top-up regional MSPs as four SNP, two Labour, and one Liberal Democrat. (Green voters elected a South Scotland MSP in 2003 but not since.)

The two regional Labour MSPs were Claudia Beamish and Graeme Pearson, both newly elected in 2011. For the seven local seats not won by Labour, Claudia Beamish covered the southeast portion where she lived and was a teacher in a rural school, while Graeme Pearson covered the northwest portion south of Glasgow where his roots are. Splitting the region this way is the usual practice.

Since the Scottish National Party won four local ridings in South Scotland, its four regional MSPs had only the other five local ridings to cover. Charles "Chic" Brodie was also the local SNP candidate in Ayr where he lived, and served it as a “shadow” local MSP, just as all German list MPs do. Paul Wheelhouse was also the local SNP candidate in Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire where he lived, and served it. Joan McAlpine and Aileen McLeod shared constituency offices in Dumfries, where they covered two ridings: Dumfriesshire, and Galloway and West Dumfries. That left the Edinburgh suburb of East Lothian, where the SNP lost one riding by only 151 votes and won the other one.

Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for South Scotland since 2007, used to be Chairman of Lothians and Borders National Farmers Union, and is used to covering the whole region.

At the other end of Scotland is its largest region, geographically: Highlands and Islands. It’s a stronghold of the Scottish National Party. Voters for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives each elected only two MSPs out of the 15 in that region. Since Liberal Democrat voters elected two of the eight local MSPs, they were not entitled to elect any regional MSPs. So the regional MSPs included two Labour and two Conservatives. (Again the Greens elected an MSP in 2003 but not since.)

The eight-riding region ranges from Inverness in the centre to Moray in the east, Argyll and Bute in the south, the Western Isles to the west and the Shetland Isles to the north.

Mary Scanlon had been a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2006 and since 2007. Her constituency office was in Inverness in the centre of the region, and she had run before in that area. She held local office hours on Fridays or Mondays, and during their week’s break each month, which rotated through 13 locations around the region serving five of the eight local ridings. Jamie McGrigor had been a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999. He previously ran locally in Argyll and Bute, and has his constituency office there. He covered the southwest three ridings.

Rhoda Grant had been a Labour member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2003 and since 2007, re-elected in 2011. David Stewart had been a Labour member of the Scottish Parliament since 2007, re-elected in 2011.  They shared a constituency office in Inverness, in the centre of the region. They both had their political base in Inverness, where each has run for a local seat. Unlike most regional MSPs, they did not divide the region between them for constituency service purposes. Instead, they specialized: Rhoda Grant in Energy, Enterprise &Tourism, Health, Finance and Infrastructure, David Stewart in Education, Justice and Transport. Like all regional MSPs they held local office hours in each of the seven outlying ridings throughout the year.

Wales does the same, with five regions each electing eight local AMs and four regional AMs. Canada could do that too.

Update: after the 2016 election, the typical Regional MP serves three local ridings.