Hey ho, it’s another Parliamentary election by AV coming our way

By Mark Pack | Sat 30th April 2011 - 11:27 am

Clearly tis the season to do elections by AV because in addition to a new member of the Lords being elected by the alternative vote at the moment (postal ballot papers went out during the week), there is now another AV election on its way.

Baroness Hayman has announced she will be stepping down as Speaker in the Lords in July. Her replacement will be elected by the alternative vote, just as she was in 2006. The Lords isn’t unusual in using preferential or multi-round elections in this respect, because the Speaker in the Commons is elected over multiple rounds whilst the Commons deputy speakers are elected by the alternative vote.

Once again we’ve got a case of Parliamentarians having chosen to use AV for their own procedures and yet those very Parliamentarians who now tell us there are principled reasons why AV is wrong in general (not just arguments specific to general elections) were remarkably quiet when it came to choosing what election system they get to use to elect others.

It’s good enough for them to elect other people but not for us to elect them it would appear. Not exactly the strident principled stand they like to paint their views as being.

3 Comments

David Boothroyd 30th Apr '11 - 1:24pm

As I understand it Baroness Hayman has yet to state whether she will be standing for re-election.
chris_sh 30th Apr '11 - 1:38pm

Tut tut Mark, you should be proud of them.

Before the ERS became partisan I believe that they stated that AV was good for voting for a single position (e.g. a speaker, party leader etc), but not suitable for the election of a representative body.

So there they are doing as your Society recommended and then you lambast them, eeeeh – who’d be a politician.
Chris 30th Apr '11 - 1:56pm

Blimey. Yet another post on AV making an ad hominem attack on its opponents rather than arguing the issues.

No wonder the electorate is unimpressed.