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Tag Archives: av referendum

Control orders, tax exiles and extraordinary rendition: political vocabulary as messaging

By Mark Pack | Mon 10th January 2011 - 1:55 pm

“Control orders” could be called “secret detention directives”. “Tax exiles” could be called “tax fugitives”. “Extraordinary rendition” could be called “government-sponsored kidnapping”.

In all three cases a fairly benign phrase has been adopted by both sides of the debate, despite the phrase very much favouring one. Having a bit of order doesn’t instinctively sound too bad. Exile even has a whiff of the honourably martyr about it. And “extraordinary”? Well, that’s usually a good thing, isn’t it? Especially if we’re talking about “rendition”, i.e. a word that is well outside common usage.

Does it matter? Not if an issue is at the …

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Posted in Op-eds | 4 Comments

The Independent calls for a ‘Yes’ vote in voting reform referendum

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th January 2011 - 11:33 am

From today’s Independent on Sunday:

To try to calculate the case for different voting systems by party advantage (or disadvantage) is not only wrong, it is also a mistake. Although we can guess how past elections might have turned out under AV, based on opinion-poll evidence of voters’ second preferences (as we report today, there might have been a hung parliament in 1992 and a Lib-Lab deal might have been more possible last year), people would behave differently under a different system.

Now it is time, therefore, to consider the philosophical or pure case for the alternative vote. In this, we

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform | 13 Comments

The Independent View: The UK voting system is broken

By Nick Pearce | Tue 4th January 2011 - 6:04 pm

One of the key arguments made by defenders of First Past the Post is that it produces clear outcomes on which strong and stable government is based. New analysis published today by the ippr (Worst of Both worlds: Why First Past the Post no longer works) shows why this claim no longer stacks up. It shows that the last general election result was not an aberration but a reflection of long-term changes in voting patterns across the UK which significantly increase the likelihood of more hung parliaments in the future.

Britain has evolved into a multi-party system, but it still has an electoral …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged electoral reform and ippr | 7 Comments

The Labour and Conservative MPs who were in favour of AV before they were against it

By Mark Pack | Fri 31st December 2010 - 10:25 am

Here’s a curious detail about the voting record of MPs on the alternative vote: before the general election, the House of Commons agreed to introduce elections for select committee chairs using the alternative vote (and the first set of these such elections have now been held).

Most of the Conservative and Labour MPs who have said they oppose AV for public elections were also MPs when this decision was taken – and not one of them forced a vote on the matter, let alone vote against introducing AV. Instead, they all let the introduction of AV go through.

Now of course …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral reform | 54 Comments

The 100-plus Labour MPs publicly opposing electoral reform

By Stephen Tall | Thu 30th December 2010 - 7:45 pm

Poor Ed Miliband. In his first speech to the Labour party conference he tried his valiant best to show that Labour had changed, that it was a party which could re-claim the progressive liberalism it so happily junked in the Blair/Brown years.

No more ID cards, detention without trial, control orders etc — so said Ed. And yes to electoral reform in the shape of the alternative vote — so said Ed.

Unfortunately for Ed, not many of his MPs are listening to him. Today, the No2AV campaign proudly announced that over 100 of Labour’s 257 MPs would be opposing …

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Posted in News | Also tagged alternative vote, ed miliband, electoral reform and labour party | 57 Comments

The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011: winning elections

By Mark Pack | Tue 21st December 2010 - 10:25 am

Over the festive season we’re running a series of posts on the main Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011. You can find all the posts as they appear here.

Yesterday I took a look at the economy, an issue on which Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will sink or swim together. Where the parties will be directly fighting each other will be in the ballot box, both in the big round of scheduled elections in May, in by-elections all through the year and in the AV referendum, where most Conservatives will be lined up on the ‘no’ side.

The combination of huge …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged lib dem challenges 2011 and oldham east and saddleworth | 6 Comments

Fairer votes referendum: it needs to be about the voting system, not the government

By Mark Pack | Thu 9th December 2010 - 12:54 pm

Contrasting poll results from YouGov and ICM on the AV referendum show how important it is avoid the referendum becoming a vote for or against the government rather than about the merits of the alternative vote compared to first past the post.

An ICM poll has found the Yes camp leading by 35% – 22% (with the balance don’t know or wouldn’t vote), which compares to a 35% – 41% deficit on the latest YouGov poll.

However, there is an important difference between the wording of the two polling questions, with YouGov’s question starting, “The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government are committed …

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Posted in News | Also tagged ed miliband, electoral reform, featured, icm and yougov | 24 Comments

Lords defeats government but date of AV referendum unlikely to change

By Mark Pack | Tue 7th December 2010 - 9:25 pm

Yesterday the House of Lords passed an amendment by four votes changing the legislation for a referendum on AV so that rather than the referendum having to be 5 May 2011 it would have to be held at some point before 31 October 2011.

The amendment does not require a date other than 5 May to be used, but it is likely to be overturned in the Commons – especially as the Electoral Commission has expressed its worries over the implications of the amendment. Today it issued a statement, “setting out its concerns about the implications of the amendment”. These are …

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Posted in Election law and News | 8 Comments

AV referendum: all households to be sent a booklet explaining the vote

By Mark Pack | Mon 6th December 2010 - 8:56 am

Details of how the Electoral Commission proposes to administer next May’s referendum on the voting system (provided it passes Parliament) have emerged in a series of circulars issued by the Commission last week.

Some of the details are likely to gain widespread welcome, including the extra anti-fraud step of requiring that 100% of postal votes are given extra security checks against original records (the law only requires a minimum of 20% and although many elections see 100% checking, not …

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Posted in Election law and News | Also tagged electoral commission and postal voting | 9 Comments

Consultation on referendum campaign broadcasts closes Tuesday

By Mark Pack | Sun 5th December 2010 - 12:52 pm

As the BBC Trust explains:

The BBC is required to include Referendum Campaign and Party Political Broadcasts in some or all of its UK Public Broadcasting Services. There are currently no agreed criteria for Referendum Campaign Broadcasts (RCBs).

As a result, a consultation is currently being held on its draft criteria and the proposed system for handling complaints. The Trust is also consulting on the proposed editorial guidelines for the BBC’s coverage of the referendum. More details, including how to respond to …

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Posted in News | Also tagged bbc trust and referendum campaign broadcasts | Leave a comment

50 phonebanks to give massive boost to grassroots Yes to Fairer Votes campaign

By Mark Pack | Wed 1st December 2010 - 12:26 pm

On Saturday 50 phonebanks are opening in cities across the country as the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign launches the most ambitious voter contact programme in British political history.

The total capacity of the 50 phonebanks is set to exceed that of even the Conservative and Labour Party national phonebanks at their peaks, with volunteers phoning voters to persuade them to back a fairer voting system in next May’s referendum.

A telephone In addition to the phonebanks, a virtual phonebank will be launched in the new year letting …

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform | 12 Comments

Opinion: Getting the AV and Lib Dem message right

By Keith Sharp | Mon 29th November 2010 - 1:31 pm

The ‘No to AV’ campaign is beginning to take shape, and alongside the familiar figures of John Prescott to name but one, some arguments of theirs are also emerging and we have to be firm in rebutting them — especially those which take aim at the Lib Dems. So here we go:

AV will lead to more hung parliaments and coalition governments

Not so. Let’s remember that AV is NOT a proportional system and there is therefore nothing intrinsic to it that spells out more likelihood of minority parliaments. Pundits and experts have assessed likely General Election results under AV and there …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged AV and myths | 59 Comments

Dear John Reid…

By Mark Pack | Fri 26th November 2010 - 5:02 pm

Dear John Reid,

Is the electoral system you decry as being “unfair” in today’s Telegraph by any chance the same voting system as the one that Labour uses to election its own party leader?

I only ask because they are both called the Alternative Vote and I haven’t noticed you complaining about Ed Miliband’s election as leader being unfair or therefore calling for your colleagues to oust him.

By the way, a little tip about Fiji, which I notice you and colleagues have become keen on quoting. It’s a military dictatorship and, you know, if you go round citing its dislike of the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform and john reid | 75 Comments

Why Ralph is voting Yes to fairer votes

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th November 2010 - 8:54 am

From the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign:

Over the coming months, the nation will be asking: how will you vote on 5 May?

Ralph Hill, 86, knows how he’ll be voting – Yes.

Ralph fought for democracy in World War II – and he wants to make ours better this May.

Watch him explain why:

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform | 21 Comments

Chris Rennard writes… The battle for electoral reform in the Lords

By Chris Rennard | Thu 18th November 2010 - 7:05 pm

Battle has been joined in the House of Lords over the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill (generally referred to as the PVSC Bill). Having passed all stages in the Commons, it came to the Lords this week. It needs to get to Royal Assent by the end of January for the referendum on using the Alternative Vote for future Westminster elections to be held on May 5th next year.

Two controversial measures have been put together in one Bill as part of the coalition agreement. The Government won every vote in the Commons on this Bill with comfortable majorities. But Labour’s …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral reform, Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill and paul tyler | 12 Comments

Do you remember how Labour’s London campaign collapsed into chaos and confusion in 1998?

By Mark Pack | Mon 8th November 2010 - 10:05 pm

No, I don’t either. Which leaves me puzzled.

Because, you see, Labour MP and campaign coordinator Andy Burham has said that his party would not be working much for a Yes vote in the AV referendum as,

It would be a recipe for chaos and confusion if Labour candidates were also supporting AV in their literature.

Odd then that it wasn’t a recipe for chaos and confusion in London in 1998 when there was a referendum on the same day as other elections. And I’m sure that the fact that the 1998 referendum was introduced by a Labour government whilst the 2011 one …

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Posted in News | Also tagged andy burnham, electoral reform and will straw | 25 Comments

Opinion: self-denying … and self-defeating?

By Alex Marsh | Thu 21st October 2010 - 5:45 pm

It may have been a “miserable little compromise” back in April but AV would now appear to be the big prize. The coalition has to hold together, whatever the cost, at least long enough to allow a vote on electoral reform. But will the way we get from here to there impact significantly upon what happens when we get there?

Only those on the inside know what’s actually happening, but there are many competing readings of how things are playing out coalition-wise.

The most challenging reading for many Lib Dems is that the displays of unity between the coalition partners are …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition | 25 Comments

Elections staff set to miss out on pay if they do a bad job

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th October 2010 - 9:20 am

Amendments 265 and 266 to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill may not have grabbed any headlines but they mark a very welcome change in policy – for under them the fees paid to referendum counting officers will only be paid in full if they meet an adequate standard of performance. Poor performance will now mean less pay.

At the general election, the returning officers in Sheffield and Hackney voluntarily decided to forgo their fees following the major organisational failures in the elections there. However, this was purely a voluntary act as there was no system for judging performance before …

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill | 1 Comment

Electoral Commission: AV referendum question should be simplified

By Helen Duffett | Thu 30th September 2010 - 11:46 am

The question for the proposed referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system should be made shorter and easier to understand, according to an assessment published by the Electoral Commission.

As I blogged back in July when when the original question was proposed,

The Electoral Commission is statutorily required to consider the intelligibility of the question, before reporting back to Parliament, who will consider the comments and have the final say after Recess.

Today’s report examines the question:

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?

The Commission undertook research to find out whether people could easily understand the question, and concluded:

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Posted in Election law and News | Also tagged electoral commission and Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill | 16 Comments

Conference: the full-time score

By Mark Pack | Sun 26th September 2010 - 9:20 am

Having blogged ten questions for Liberal Democrat conference, along with a conference half-time update, how do things look now the dust has settled from Liverpool for those ten points?

Party strategy

Love your coalition partner all the time in public: that was the clear line taken by Nick Clegg, reinforced by other senior party figures and not challenged directly in any high profile way during conference (save for one question during the Nick Clegg Q&A). And yet… whether or not the party should let its strong debates with the Conservatives within the coalition show a little more in public was …

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged andrew sparrow, Danny Alexander, jennie rigg, nick clegg, stuart bonar, susan kramer, tim farron and trident | 9 Comments

The dirty little secret the Coalition Government should address

By Mark Pack | Mon 20th September 2010 - 11:54 am

The coalition government is pledged to introducing a package of reforms to our electoral system, including extending it to cover the House of Lords. Quite what the impact of these changes will be is an issue addressed in the Litmus newspaper jointly produced by Lib Dem Voice, Left Foot Forward and Conservative Home. Here is my piece on the topic, and you can read the full newspaper, including the other pieces on this topic from Lord Norton and Will Straw, either via the hard copies in conference registration packs or online at www.litmustest.org.

The present House of Lords model gives a seat in Parliament for life without having to face any election. We need constitutional reform and an electoral system that reduces the number of safe seats, argues Dr Mark Pack.

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Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Also tagged house of lords | 7 Comments

Clegg: first past the post is a relic that deserves to be consigned to the past

By Mark Pack | Sat 18th September 2010 - 7:34 pm

Speaking at tonight’s Yes to Reform! rally at the Liverpool LibDem conference, Nick Clegg was joined by Jo Swinson MP, former independent MP Martin Bell, actor Art Malek and others. You can also now download campaign materials and find out more about the Fairer Votes Referendum at www.libdems.org.uk/fairervotes.

This was the text of Nick’s speech:

The last few months have been some of the most remarkable in the history of our party. I’m proud that for the first time in our party’s history Liberal Democrats will be addressing a party conference as Secretaries of State and government ministers. And it’s fantastic to …

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged nick clegg | 18 Comments

Just how daft does David Miliband think Liberal Democrats are?

By Mark Pack | Fri 17th September 2010 - 12:56 pm

Today’s Guardian is reporting that David Miliband,

… would like to persuade Nick Clegg to pull out of plans for a referendum on the alternative vote next May.

Instead, Miliband wants the Liberal Democrat leader to consider his proposal of a joint referendum on the House of Commons voting system and an elected House of Lords on the same day – something Miliband has called a democracy day.

Pause for a moment to recall that the Conservatives have agreed to introduce elections for the House of Lords, and by Proportional Representation no less.

So David Miliband’s offer …

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Posted in News | Also tagged ed miliband | 14 Comments

Yes to Fairer Votes campaign unveils its first appointments

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th September 2010 - 2:24 pm

Yes to Fairer Votes, the group being created to campaign for a yes vote in the electoral reform referendum, has unveiled its steering committee:

Pam Giddy, Chair
John Sharkey, Vice Chair (and former chair of the Liberal Democrat general election campaign)
Neal Lawson, Compass
Peter Facey, Unlock Democracy
Willie Sullivan, Electoral Reform Society
Carina Trimingham, Electoral Reform Society

The initial version of the campaign website is also up and running at www.yestofairervotes.org – and you can sign up to support the campaign and offer your help.

Posted in News | Also tagged john sharkey | 12 Comments

Opinion: our MPs need to be demonstrating consensual politics and challenging opponents on AV

By Chris Jenkinson | Thu 9th September 2010 - 1:15 pm

Based on my timeline on Twitter I was not the only Lib Dem member paying attention to the AV debate in Parliament and getting frustrated at some of the comments made by Labour and Conservative MPs against the alternative vote referendum. I can’t have been alone in noticing a significant absence of Lib Dem MPs being as engaged in the debate in Parliament as I was on Twitter.

This got me thinking – are we doing our best to minimise unforced errors and build relationships with those we will be campaigning alongside in the AV referendum and to limit Yes …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral reform | 10 Comments

Katie Ghose appointed new Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th August 2010 - 9:19 pm

The press notice from the Electoral Reform Society says:

Katie Ghose has served for 5 years as Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, a national charity with a mission to bring rights to life for everyone in the UK. A public affairs specialist and barrister with a background in human rights law and immigration, she served as a Commissioner on the Independent Asylum Commission from 2006-2008, where she helped to conduct the biggest ever indepedent review of the UK asylum system. She has worked in campaigns for several third sector organisations including Age UK (then Age Concern England

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform society, james graham and katie ghose | 3 Comments

Did you think Taxpayers’ Alliance folks favour AV?

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th August 2010 - 8:53 am

No, I didn’t think so either. Which makes the case of the Yes2AV.org domain name a little curious.

Check the official records and you find that it is registered to Matthew Elliott, not the Australian cricketer but the man from the Taxpayers’ Alliance who is going to head up the “no” campaign for the AV referendum. Also listed is on the registration is Andy Whitehouse, complete with his Taxpayers’ Alliance email address.

If you are campaigning for a “no”, having a domain name with a “yes” just might cause some confusion, don’t you think?

Here’s what the No2AV campaign said to me …

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Posted in News | Also tagged andy whitehouse, matthew elliott and taxpayers alliance | 35 Comments

Iain Dale’s voting system confusion

By Iain Roberts | Mon 23rd August 2010 - 8:33 am

Iain Dale yesterday posted a piece attacking the Alternative Vote system which doesn’t bode well for a well informed campaign.

That’s a shame because there’s a sensible debate to be had – with Lib Dems being the first to admit that the Alternative Vote system isn’t the best of all possible options, though most would rate it as a great improvement on what we have now.

Dale writes

There’s a reason only one other country in the world uses AV. It’s a half way house. It tries to be a PR equivalent of the First Past the Post system, but in reality

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alternative vote, first past the post and iain dale | 27 Comments

“The voting system is broken, back the Alternative”: ads to help win May’s voting referendum

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd August 2010 - 4:35 pm

Last month, The Voice asked the question, Can you design a poster to win the AV “Yes” campaign?, highlighting TakeBackParliament.com‘s competition to crowd-source the design talent of bloggers who support abolishing first-past-the-vote and replacing it with the Alternative Vote in readiness for next May’s referendum.

The winner has now been announced (and sorry, guys, but it doesn’t do it for me). Runner-up was Lib Dem blogger Stuart Bonar, who produced an excellent series of designs.

Here’s an example from one batch:

And an even more inspired …

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Posted in News | Also tagged alternative vote, stuart bonar and take back parliament | 27 Comments

LibLink: Vernon Bogdanor – Change the voting system, change the UK

By NewsHound | Tue 10th August 2010 - 8:15 pm

Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at the University of Oxford, and David Cameron’s tutor at Brasenose College, looks at the alternative vote referendum in an article in today’s Financial Times, and suggests it could have far-reaching consequences. But first he points out the Alice in Wonderland politics of the referendum:

The Lib Dems, who favour true proportional representation, now back a system that can yield even more disproportional outcomes than first-past-the-post. Labour, the only party to propose a referendum on AV in its manifesto, will oppose the bill providing for it. The Conservatives will oppose change, but in muted fashion, since

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged alternative vote and vernon bogdanor | 11 Comments

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