The Conservative selection of their Mayor candidate in Bedford was, on any sensible meaning of the words, a caucus, not a primary. A caucus requires people to turn up to a meeting and sit there for a while before casting a vote. A primary simply requires people to vote.
They’ve both got their pros and cons – most simply, a primary gets more people involved, a caucus requires more commitment from those who get involved. But it’s just a route to confusion to start calling caucuses primaries. (Even if you’re tempted because primary = Exciting! Modern! Good! and caucus = Smoke-filled rooms! Cliques! Bad!)
That’s all.
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I was under the impression that a caucaus was not just about turning up at a meeting, it aslo involves publically declaring your voting interntion by voting with your feet, which for many reasons, is different from a secret ballot.