THE  ELECTION  OF  PARLIAMENT	183
and the elector is led to suppose that all parties are much the
same, and that it does not matter how he votes, or whether he
votes at all. Nor are the mass of electors, not firmly attached
to any party, more likely to be satisfied. They usually desire to
see returned to power a Government able to carry through a
policy which has  been stated at the  election;  should the
Government fail to do so, it can be judged accordingly. Under
Proportional   Representation   the   elector   would   know   that
whatever party he voted for, there wxnald be little likelihood of
its policy being carried out; for the Government would be a
Coalition whose nature and working \yould be unpredictable.
At the 1924 Election the majority of electors dearly wished to
defeat the Labour Government; in 1929 they wished to defeat the
Conservative Government but were not prepared for the Socialist
proposals of the Labour Party. In 1931 there was a determination
to give the National Government solid power; by 1935 enthusiasm
for that Government had waned, but the majority still preferred
it to a Labour Government. The people may have been right or
wrong to wish these results; but that they did wish them is
certain to everyone who studied opinion at the time, and, under
our present'voting system, they pecured them. The measure of
support secured by the victorious party is, no doubt, exaggerated;
but the suggestion that the present system is a gamble, and its
results a matter of chance, will not bear examination.
The members of great parties are held together to-day by
the knowledge that if they sink minor differences they may be
able to return a majority Government to power. ^Proportional
Representation, by taking away the hope of a clear majority
and increasing the chances of small groups would yield a Parlia-
. ment in which the number of parties was greatly increased.
The inevitability of Coalitions would not lessen party strife;
each  party  could   put  forward  a  rosy, programme without
bothering too much about its practicability: for the excuse is
.  always to hand "You could not expect us to carry out all our
programme; we had to sacrifice this and that item at the request