Any voting system will have strengths and weaknesses. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of real discontent with our MMP, although there are a few things that people would like to change, like:

• the threshold, down to perhaps 4% or 3%
• an escape rout to the list for MPs who fail to win electorates

I think the biggest problem with MMP is how we use it, or more to the point, how parties use it. I have tw main complaints:

• most ministers, especially senior ones, have some of the most important jobs in the country but still supposedly look after an electorate at the same time while back bench list MPs do what? Work for their party?
• the quality of the list is very mixed, with a perception that it’s got a lot of failed MPs, token minorities, patsy party positions etc.

Wouldn’t it make sense to have the busiest ministers, especially the PM, to be on the list so they can concentrate on their most important tasks, and have specialist electorate MPs?