
If our system to choose a president was like the United Kingdom’s in selecting a prime minister, then in 2023, the Republicans would most likely install Trump as president if they retake the House this November.
In the United States, the Republican Party consists of sycophants and Donald Trump chooses who will be the nominees in most elections. In the UK, the Tories made Liz Truss grovel for their votes.
Voters don’t directly elect their prime minister in the United Kingdom (which is made up of four nations, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). The majority party selects the prime minister and at this time, the Tories are the majority. The Tories are the conservatives.
Another difference between is that the United Kingdom isn’t simply a two-party system like ours. While Tories and Labour (liberals) are the two largest parties, the party in control usually needs help from one of the lesser parties to form a government.
One detail that is very similar between both nations is that the systems are fucked up.
In the United States, the Electoral College makes it possible for the president to be the candidate who didn’t win the popular vote. In fact, the Republican Party has only won the popular vote once since 1988. In case you’re counting, that’s 33 years, yet the GOP has taken the White House three times since.
Since we elect United States senators by state, and not by population, Republicans often control the Senate despite millions more Americans voting for Democrats. Democratic senate candidates outperformed Republican candidates in 2018, a year of the blue wave, by over 18 million votes, yet failed to win the Senate. In fact, the GOP actually gained seats in the Senate while the House fell to Democrats who gained 41 seats.
And in the House, districts are gerrymandered in what amounts to candidates choosing their voters instead of voters choosing the candidates.
And don’t get me started on how Republicans are making it harder for non-white Americans to vote. Our democracy is at risk.
The United Kingdom just selected its next prime minister and she’s Liz Truss. Actually, the UK didn’t select her, the Tories did. And the UK’s next prime minister won the job with only 60,339 votes. There are over 47 million eligible voters in the United Kingdom but Truss was selected by just 0.4% of them.
You can argue that since the Tories are the majority, then UK voters selected them to choose their next prime minister, though I’m sure when voters last went to the polls to choose Members of Parliament (MPs), most of them had never heard of Liz Truss. So, no. UK voters did not choose their next PM. Tomorrow, Truss and current PM, Boris Johnson, will travel to the Queen’s estate in Scotland where she will invite Truss to form a new government. Hopefully, by the time they get there, someone has informed the Queen who Truss is.
Voters may not get an actual say in any of this until 2025 unless Truss calls for an election. If she really wants to keep the job, I doubt she does that. And if Donald Trump becomes president (sic) again in 2024, the United States may never have a real presidential election ever again.
Another similarity between Tories and Republicans is that they always choose wankers.
Music note: I listened to Kaiser Chiefs and Foo Fighters.
Creative note: I don’t like to give away Easter eggs, but I was talking to my padawan Alexandra Bowman while making this and asked her for one reference. So, the Doctor Who Easter egg is from her.
Also, since the cartoon has been published, I’ve gotten more grief that the Number 12 bus does not go to Chiswick and I put the driver on the wrong side.
Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.
Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.
Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.
Watch me draw: