Tag Archives: boundary changes

Tories lose boundary review vote, Lib Dems vote against Coalition partners for first time

By Stephen Tall | Tue 29th January 2013 - 7:15 pm

The BBC reports this afternoon’s vote:

Plans to redraw constituency boundaries before 2015, backed by the Tories, have been defeated in the House of Commons. MPs voted by 334 to 292 to accept changes made by peers, meaning the planned constituency shake-up will be postponed until 2018 at the earliest. It was the first time Lib Dem ministers have voted against their Conservative coalition colleagues in the Commons. The two parties have been in dispute since proposed elections to the House of Lords were dropped last

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Posted in News | Also tagged lords reform | 29 Comments

Nick Clegg should say no to any link between state funding and boundary changes

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th August 2012 - 7:12 pm

It’s August, so I’m not going to take too seriously kite-flying suggestions by Benedict Brogan in the Telegraph that Nick Clegg might consider rescinding his threat that the Lib Dems will vote against boundary changes (following the Tories’ decision to break the Coalition Agreement over Lords reform) in return for a deal on party funding which would include state aid for political parties:

Here’s how it was presented to me: over the next year or so Mr Clegg will find a way to back the boundary review when it comes up for a vote in the Commons. In exchange, Mr

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benedict brogan, lords reform, nick clegg and party funding | 19 Comments

Chris Rennard writes… Restoring balance to the Coalition

By Chris Rennard | Mon 6th August 2012 - 2:42 pm

Nick Clegg’s statement dropping Lords Reform in this Parliament should come as no surprise following David Cameron’s failure to persuade barely half of his backbench MPs to support the Government’s Bill on this.

Two years ago, Conservative MPs were supporting a Queen’s Speech that made explicit the Coalition agreement to elect members of the House of Lords through Proportional Representation.

The Coalition Agreement is the contract that underwrites this government. In its name many Liberal Democrats have voted for compromises in legislation that we would not on our own have put forward.

So, the question is what to do when one side fails to honour its side of the contract?

You act swiftly and decisively, even ruthlessly, as Nick Clegg has done, to redress the balance. Hence, the boundary changes are no more.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition agreement, david cameron, john major, lords reform, nick clegg and stephen tall | 82 Comments

The Coalition Agreement does not commit Lib Dems to supporting boundary changes

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th August 2012 - 8:45 am

Over the last couple of months, Conservative MPs and commentators have made great play of the fact that the Coalition Agreement does not explicitly commit the Tories to voting for House of Lords reform. Let’s remind ourselves of its words again:

We will establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation. The committee will come forward with a draft motion by December 2010. It is likely that this will advocate single long terms of office. It is also likely that there will be a grandfathering system for

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition agreement, david cameron, lords reform and nick clegg | 37 Comments

Opinion: Boundary changes are an opportunity to elect 50 MPs by PR

By Daisy Cooper | Wed 25th July 2012 - 8:55 am

The current proposals for electoral boundary changes include the idea that the number of constituencies and MPs should be reduced from 650 to 600. My suggestion is this: let’s keep the overall number of MPs at 650, and let’s agree to reduce the number of constituency MPs to 600 on the condition that the other 50 (less than 10%) are elected from party lists on the basis of proportional representation.

In a democracy, all votes should be equal. Votes will never be equal in the UK until the country adopts the proportional representation (PR) voting system. Under the ‘first past the …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition agreement, electoral reform and lords reform | 14 Comments

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Tag Archives: boundary changes

Tories lose boundary review vote, Lib Dems vote against Coalition partners for first time

Nick Clegg should say no to any link between state funding and boundary changes

Chris Rennard writes… Restoring balance to the Coalition

The Coalition Agreement does not commit Lib Dems to supporting boundary changes

Opinion: Boundary changes are an opportunity to elect 50 MPs by PR

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Nick: "Jobs are right at the heart of the Lib Dems’ agenda"

"Lib Dems set to name 7 new peers for House of Lords"

EU in/out referendum bill - will Lib Dem MPs abstain?

The Morrissey Report: "No excuses" says Caron Lindsay

Tag Archives: boundary changes

Tories lose boundary review vote, Lib Dems vote against Coalition partners for first time

Nick Clegg should say no to any link between state funding and boundary changes

Chris Rennard writes… Restoring balance to the Coalition

The Coalition Agreement does not commit Lib Dems to supporting boundary changes

Opinion: Boundary changes are an opportunity to elect 50 MPs by PR

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