On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:47:27 +0000 (UTC), Adrian wrote:

On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:58:58 +0100, Tim Watts wrote:

Only 27%

That ^^ is the relevant figure.

For the purposes of choosing the elected representatives, yes.

of those who turned out, less than 10% of the electorate as a

This ^^ is irrelevant in a democracy that works as ours does.

Not for the purposes of making claims as to what swathe of society
support a particular party's view.

Abstaining is abstaining - those who abstain cannot be inferred to hold
one view or the other.

They can be inferred not to strongly support one view, though.

Or inferred to hold the view 'none of the above' - the polite version of
telling politicians that they're all corrupt, lying, scheming, conniving
evil filthy scum.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway