| Tuesday, August 14, 2012 6:38 AM

Banksie's doing his bun and it's hardly surprising. As ACT's sole MP, its leader and its caucus he's much more lonely than he thought he'd be.

Banksie may have won his Epsom seat after State Homie John Key shouted him a cuppa and even though he told The Homie at the time that the stars were in alignment, the election produced a series of falling stars for the micro party.

They didn't get enough votes for someone to ride on Banksie's coattails into the bear pit.

The Homie has been left wondering why he greased to ACT when he could have had one of his own in the seat. But then he was counting on coattails.

Back in 2008 when Rodney Thick Hide was cast in the leading role before he was dumped, the party vote gave them an additional four coattail MPs and they'd didn't even crack four percent.

The Electoral Commission 's report on MMP says the coattailing should stop, parties should have to crack a new, lower, four percent threshold regardless of whether they hold an electorate seat.

Curiously Luigi Peters is also fuming about the report, saying the threshold shouldn't be reduced to four percent, it should remain at the current five. But then he got more than four but less than five at the 2008 election and as a result was relegated to the political wilderness for three long years, so it's a little difficult to fathom why he sees the lower threshold as undemocratic.

But like The Kermits, he does agree with the coattail provision being done away with, again hardly surprising considering both parties are now list-only parties without an electorate seat and without coattails to cling to.

And it's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black with Luigi's own coattails having been torn to shreds over the years, he's had more clingers than fly paper attracts in a smelly dunny.

So changes are in line for the electoral system, but the party list hacks will remain in place, meaning the system can still turn electorate seat losers into winners!