European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                British the election which put Attlee in Power resembled the system in but tactics were of different As bitters is from by James Dugan yank staff correspondent British you cant run for parliament if youre a a judge of one of the higher a civil a clergy Man in the Church of a roman Catholic a bankrupt or a or if you have Ever been convicted of or tampering with anyone else can be a candidate in the recent election that brought about the replacement of Winston Churchill by Clement nearly everyone else it was a far from routine election that brought about the overthrow of the conservatives and put the labor party firmly in according to the British a National election must be held once every five in the present no election had been held in 10 not since 1935 had the British electorate had a Chance to make itself heard at the polls and this meant that there want a person in the United kingdom under the age of 30 who had Ever had a Chance to the reason the British did not go to the polls in 1940 was that they Felt they could not run a general election and the Battle of Britain at the same the nation was then engaged in Vot ing against Hitler with sweat and at the time of the maps of the currently triumphant labor party refused to serve any longer under prime minister Neville chamber and a few Days later the conservative my for Epping Winston Church was asked to form a coalition by an agreement among the three principal Par labor and then proceeded to select a Cabinet made up of the Best men regardless of their Politi Cal coalition carried with it an electoral truce among the major parties and an agreement by them that when a seat in parliament was made vacant by death or resignation it would be filled by someone who was a member of the same party As its previous thus major party representation in parliament was Frozen at its 1935 the conservatives were in the major Ity and they stayed that Way until last july shortly after veday Churchill went to Buckingham Palace and told the King he wanted to a formality necessary to dissolve the coalition this meant that the War time political armistice was called off and the various political parties immediately began haul ing out their big guns for the general which was set for july although announcement of the results was put off for three weeks because of the difficulties in getting in the ballots of the armed forces serving once coalition was labor and Liberal ministers left the Cabi net and Churchill made up a caretaker government of conservatives to carry on until the the British democratic system differs from ours in tactics but not in prime ministers office has Many of the same characteristics that our presidents unlike the the prime minister is not directly elected by the people of the entire nation in Normal times he is the Leader of whatever party happens to have a majority in parliament and he appoints a Cabinet of men of his own the prime minister administers the nation on behalf of the King but in reality he is More the counterpart of a president who serves the Sovereign the King has almost Noth ing to do with the governing of great if it great Britain new he should express political opinions beyond his prescribed Powers to encourage and everybody would land on him and re quest him to Lay in the House of the government Cor responds roughly to the administration in the current Washington if at any time during its five year tenure it loses a vote of Confidence it is obliged to in which if some other Leader seems Likely to obtain a the King asks him to become prime minister if such Man is another general election is held to choose the members of an entirely new House of a vote of Confidence can be called for by any my who distrusts some policy the government is endorsing at the or such a vote May be invited by the prime minister himself to prove that the course he is pursuing has the support of the in a general Britain party system Cor responds to the British conservative party has been likened to our Republican one and the labovites Are looked upon As similar to our dem Britain and the United states provide the worlds two outstanding examples of How a two party system Britain has a third political known As the Liberal which used to constitute the principal Lefto Center set be fore the who have risen to prominence during the last Quarter elbowed their Way into that the relative party strength in the parliament just retired was 356 165 Liberal 26 18 4 1 plus a Sprink Ling of no party and Maverick in the new parliament the with a few returns yet to be stood As follows 388 195 Liberal 14 12 1 2 a sprinkling of Universal suffrage started Here consider yank the army weekly August 1945 ably later than in the having been in effect in Britain Only 17 up until the Reform Bill of Only one out of every 40 adult britons was allowed to vote and the franchise was generally restricted to substantial property the restrictions were gradually As when in 1867 the second Reform act gave the right to vote to workingmen owning houses in a town and in 1884 the county franchise act was allowing All labourers with property to in All property restrictions were removed and women Over 30 were permitted to and finally in 1928 the minimum age for women Vot ers was lowered to the instituted the secret ballot in 12 years before it was universally adopted in the in this respect the australians beat us having in vented secret voting in becoming an my in England is a Fine but expensive the salary is a year and theres no expense account to cover the secretarial work and hotel Bills theres no postal franking by which maps can correspond with their constituencies for some maps spend half their Sal Aries on postage to get his name on the a candidate or his party must put up which he loses of he fails to poll on eighth of his districts total Hes allowed to spend a dime a voter on Campaign expenses and from to in salary to a Campaign if he gets his salary is subject to Britain breathtaking income no doubt about it Doest Hurt an my to have a private an my must be a British subject but does not have to reside in the District he in his 40year parliamentary Churchill has rep resented four widely separated districts old Dundee and Epping he lives in Attlee lives in Middlesex and has always represented the British dont hold conventions for nominating candidates each person who runs or As they Call it for parliament is selected by a local constituency the fact that a Doest have to live in the District he represents gives the party commit tees much strategical latitude in being Able to run Strong candidates against Tough opposition and to put up weak candidates in Safe con those in which the voters Are expected to vote like their Ameri cans have been known to criticize the British system on the ground that an my who Doest live in the District he Likely Tobe familiar with the needs of the people who do live it All seems to work out pretty Well in experience has shown that a Large proportion of the House of commons time is taken up by demands of maps for such relatively minor boons As a pension for some widow or the elimination of a Grade crossing Little the British system also tends to produce maps who think in terms of the National Good rather than legislators with a provincial interest in benefiting Only their own a parliamentary constituency is a geographical area comprising an average population of it can also be a a College Grad uate gets two in his Alma maters constituency and the other where he Many businessmen also get two As the Law per mits anyone operating a business establishment valued at More than to vote in its District As Well As his Home if you Are an Oxford run a pub in London and live in Surrey you dont get three theres a against More than britons take Fuller advantage of the voting privilege than we in out of eligible american Only or 64 went to the in Britain recent election were eligible to vote and More than or 80 per did in the labor sweep of 1929 an incredible 89 per cent of the eligible to the this july election was a to hold barred compared with the elections at it May have seemed to some gis on the scene As if the Marquis of Queensberry was doing a Little polite but it want even if it did sound that Way to jukeboxes and it turned out to be the most important British election in modern 7