Just say no, urges Jenkin
Nick Clegg has told us that the Alternative Vote is an opportunity for reform.
Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex, doesn't agree.
"I've been asked by the 1922 Executive Committee to keep a watching brief on AV and help form a viable and sustained cross party "No" campaign," he tells me.
So you don't like it then?
"First past the post is a tried and tested system. The most popular in the world. By comparison only three other countries use AV - Australia, Fiji and Papa New Guinea ...
"AV is simply a staging post for the Lib Dems who really want Proportional Representation.
"AV is unaccceptable. It might actually decrease not increase proportionality and it can lead to quirky results."
Listen to: Radio 4's The Now Show on alternative voting
More quirky than the fact that in May it took 33,000 votes to elect a Labour MP, 35,000 for a Conservative and a whopping 120,000 votes to get a Lib Dem to Parliament?
"The Lib Dems want it because it will give them more seats but it's a leap in the dark. How it will actually work, we can only speculate. It can create uncertainty and we don't like weak government.
"This is not the system for fair votes. It is not PR. It does not address the issue over safe seats and it does not create fair representation.
That's a no then...
Mr Jenkin is, however, at pains to emphasise that he thinks Conservative MPs should vote for having the AV referendum, since that is the basis of their agreement with the Lib Dems.
Nick Clegg once called AV "a miserable little reform" but achieving this goal is now, for some Lib Dems, the only reason to be in the coalition.
They must be hoping the voting public will see it their same way.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
Comment number 1.
At 12th Jul 2010, john wrote:"First past the post is a tried and tested system. The most popular in the world." - yes put to good use by A. Hitler ; B Mussolini ; J. Stalin ; I. Amin ; G.W. Bush ; T. Blair and J. Smuts amongst others . With such ringing endorsements how can it go wrong?. Despite all rhetoric to the contrary the elector has very little power except his/her vote ( unless they take to the streets ) and we should all be careful that little power is not used to further any form of elected dictatorship.
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