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 Electoral Reform Society.  As such I agree that AV is not a proportional voting system; it is marginally better than FPTP, but only the Single Transferable Vote does offer a proportional system, with constituencies, that maximises voter choice.  The Jenkins AV+ compromise is the next best system.

However, a note of electoral reality has to be applied too.
The result of the General Election, combined with the instability of the Labour Party and the antediluvian tendencies of a significant section of it (including some of the Ministers involved in negotiations) means that there was no deliverable majority in the Commons for that proportional voting system.

It will be fascinating to see whether a period in opposition, and a referendum fight for AV (and I would campaign for a YES vote, as it is an improvement on the status quo, even if only a marginal one), concentrates the minds of those in Labour.  Incidentally it is important to lobby those in Labour locally; there are a range of views among Labour members on the issue, and it may be that some local debates bring out the flavour of what is needed.  I would certainly be happy to take part if any were organised.

Therefore, in my view, the astonishing compromise by David Cameron to commit to a referendum on AV offers the only progress on electoral reform that is deliverable in the current political climate.  I see the campaign moving forward as an iterative step-by-step process.  A Parliament elected by AV – more likely to be balanced – should be more likely to drive the further changes we all want.  If the referendum is lost, however, the chances of delivering any kind of reform will be lost for a generation or more.

So, do join the Electoral Reform Society – and I will try and attend tomorrow if transport from work works – and let’s discuss, debate and start to build a movement for electoral reform that will ensure it actually happens this time.

Gareth Epps.  Liberal Democrat Councillor, Katesgrove Ward, Reading

Secondly, from Edward Pope:

I want to make a comment on the fair votes campaign, you say all are welcome to contribute.

Don’t underestimate the value of an Alternative Vote system,
it’s a step in the right direction as it is a part of most other systems like Proportional Representation &c.

Voting systems can’t change the world – only collective action or individual acts of inspiration do that.  The UK electoral sytem has been reformed many times in the last 200 years.

I’ve not read what the Lib-Con coalition intend to do, there was Roy Jenkins recommendation of Alternative Voting with a top up of PR and what they say they intend may not be what they do. But AV is worth having.

Example: in East Oxford constituency the Green Party got about 1,300 votes in the general election and about 7,000 in the local elections.  With AV there would probably be 7,000 first votes for the Greens. This would be published. We would also know which way Green voters were voting tactically. In East Oxford it could have been for Labour, Lib Dem or even Tory. The elected candidate would know whose support she relied on. Minor parties could make much faster progress. And the demand for PR would increase as first choices became evident.

If the electorate had voted in a majority Tory or Labour government electoral reform would have remained a very distant prospect.

These are not reasons not to demonstrate. But to have any effect on the government we will have to build up to very large demonstrations. At present it’s not clear what result a referendum on electoral reform would get.

Don’t take governments too seriously. They’re all nearly the same, and all respond slowly to change, even the ones in other “western democracies” elected by PR already

Edward Pope, Oxford

Many thanks to Gareth and Edward for their views.  Further comments are very welcome – you can email them to me and I will post them on the blog, or use the comments arrangement to add your comments directly to each blog posting.