Labour to oppose voting reform

From the 'Guardian', 27th July 2010. Shadow Cabinet to oppose voting reform bill Patrick Wintour The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against a bill introducing reform to the voting system, raising the prospect of a Commons defeat for one of the governing coalition's flagship policies. The decision, taken last night, followed two lengthy …

The AV referendum question

From the UK polling report blog by Anthony Wells: Last week the government published the wording that will be used in the AV referendum: “Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the ‘alternative vote’ system instead of the current ‘first past the post’ system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?” …

AV would have given Liberal Democrats 32 more seats in 2010 general election.

The Guardian reports that he Liberal Democrats  would have had greater freedom to choose whether to form a majority coalition with either the Conservatives or Labour if the last election had been held under the alternative vote system, according to research conducted for the University of Essex.  The British Election study, supervised by Professor David …

Electoral Reform Society – Make Votes Count campaign!

The Electoral Reform Society is looking for volunteer regional outreach co-ordinators to help build local movements all around the country in favour of fair voting.  The government has promised a referendum on reform, but to win the referendum and keep up the pressure for fair voting we need to build up a strong grass-roots network …

Friday vigil in Reading

Following our successful demo outside the Civic Centre in Reading on Tuesday we held a vigil for democracy and fair votes on Friday evening outside the Old Town Hall in Reading town centre. Alas, the large crowd which had gathered nearby hadn't come along to join us unfortunately - they were watching the police break …

Take Back Parliament Movement

The Take Back Parliament Movement are doing brilliant work on a similar theme to us and they are arranging a number of demos around the country this weekend. They've put out the following statement: Last Saturday the Take Back Parliament movement put thousands of people throughout the UK onto the streets to demand fair votes …

Your thoughts.

Thanks for all the feedback and comments on this project.  A couple of you have been kind enough to write with detailed thoughts about electoral reform and proportional representation, and I thought it would be worth posting the comments here for everyone to read. Firstly, from Gareth Epps: I am a longstanding member of the …

Another pro-democracy demonstration in Reading

Press release and photo opportunity For immediate release 13 May 2010 Another pro-democracy demonstration in Reading! Local pro-democracy campaigners will follow up a successful demonstration earlier this week with another call to action today (Friday). The group will be holding a vigil to call for introduction of a fair voting system based around proportional representation …

Join us on Friday

The stakes are so high that we can't just give up right now. Forty people turned up outside the Civic Centre in Reading on Tuesday to call for a fair voting system.  The new coalition government's proposals for a new alternative vote electoral system do not even come close to being a fair system.  If …

AV is not enough.

The  new Conservative and Liberal Democrat government has today announced its proposals for government.  There's quite a bit in their statement about political reform - most of it pretty positive.  The statement has the following t0 say on electoral reform: "The parties will bring forward a referendum bill on electoral reform, which includes provision for …