JohnLoony  wrote:
> rosenst...@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
> > > Laakso-Taagepera index = 4.14
> >
> > I suppose you're now going to explain that remark?
>
> You are of course fully familiar with Laakso-Taagepera indeces, but
> (for the benefit of those ignoramuses who have never been interested
> in electoral systems) a Laakso-Taagepera index is a practical measure
> of the effective number of political parties in a system - defined as
> the square of the sum divided by the sum of the squares.

Indeed. Not normally applied to a by-election in a single ward though.
And it is, in this case, just another way of saying the seat is now a
4-way marginal.
--
Henry