MHoC holds elections every six months. An election is called by the speakership, who liaise with the government and the parties to decide on the best timing. Each party is responsible for nominating candidates to stand in various constituencies, and in the proportional ‘list seats.’
Our elections are an awfully confusing time for new members. This is mostly due to the process we use. While in the past we relied on members of reddit actually voting for their preferred party, we now ‘simulate elections’ meaning that parties compete for virtual voters. The success of a part is affected by their ‘modifiers’ - a series of multipliers and values that impact the amount of people that will vote for them. Modifiers reward activity throughout the term, with modifiers for things such as legislative output, MP turnout and campaigning. Modifiers effectively reflect how the public see the party: a stable and active party will do well, while a party that is gripped by internal strife and inactivity will do poorly in elections.
The number of seats in the House of Commons often fluctuates. In our first election, we only had 30 seats. However in our second election, only six months later, we had 75. At the third election it was 100 seats, and in the fourth it was 115 seats. At the moment we have 100 seats in the Commons.
By convention, seats won in an election belong to the party that won them, as opposed to the member. This stops us having constant by-elections as members come and go from the simulation. However, there are exceptions to this rule, if an independent member wins their seat then they ‘own’ it, meaning that if they resign the seat goes to a by-election. They can also defect to a political party and strengthen that party in the Commons.
Due to the nature of MHOC, we have never had a single party with a majority in Parliament, which means that coalitions are necessary for forming governments. Representatives of parties will meet after the election, and attempt to negotiate an agreement. This involves a degree of compromise between the parties, so it's best to try and remain on good terms with likely partners.
All members of the coalition are expected to vote in favour of government legislation, and for this reason are ‘whipped.’ MPs who defy serious whips, such as on landmark legislation, or on the budget are often fired from any positions in the Cabinet and may even be expelled from their party.
Coalitions also take the solidarity seriously. It is often considered bad etiquette to express concerns about the coalition in public subreddits. Members of the coalition are instead encouraged to voice criticism in private.