Bismarck said that politics is the art of the possible. Possibilities change and yesterday I suggested we could stave off the threat of the social media turning democracy into a rolling referendum. That is already happening and it may lead to anarchy and to minorities being bullied by the majority.

A five year term is good for a politician. It gives him or her the chance to make a difference without having to look over their shoulder hourly at public opinion. But why should we vote for all the Members of Parliament at the same time.

In the UK there are 650 Members in the House of Commons. If we exclude the holiday months of December and July / August and some public holiday dates there would be about 33 voting weeks each year. Four constituencies a week would allow 130 elections a year. Five years would complete 650 elections.

The benefits to society and to democracy would include a weekly check on constituents’ views of the government’s performance without the threat of a sudden change. Government could moderate its policies – or not depending on how it viewed the need to stick with decisions that might take time to commend themselves to the electorate.

The five yearly circus of a General Election with the “benevolent budget” the year before it would be done away with. New parties could field candidates in a few constituencies without having to fund a national campaign. Democracy would be advanced.