Tag Archives: av referendum

AV campaigns able to spend more than £11 million

By Stephen Tall | Tue 10th August 2010 - 6:50 pm

Today’s Financial Times reports:

Campaigners for and against electoral reform will be able to spend a total of more than £11m in a blizzard of promotional material and advertisements in the run-up to next year’s referendum, the Electoral Commission has confirmed.

Under the law, the Yes and No campaigns on the alternative vote (AV) system can each spend £5m of private money as well as £600,000 apiece of public funding. The two sides will also be given free use of public rooms such as council buildings, a TV broadcast and free postal delivery to households across the UK of 20m

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Posted in News | Also tagged alternative vote | 9 Comments

Labour to oppose voting reform legislation

By Helen Duffett | Wed 28th July 2010 - 7:50 am

The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, insisting that it should not be given a second reading.

From the Press Association,

Labour is to vote against legislation paving the way for a referendum on reforming the voting system.

The shadow cabinet decided to oppose the Government’s Bill because it also includes provisions for equalising the size of constituencies.

The move sets the stage for a major test of the coalition, with Labour MPs lining up alongside rebel Tories in a bid to derail the proposals.

The commitment to a referendum on switching to Alternative

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral commission, jenny watson, nick clegg and Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill | 27 Comments

Opinion: Lib Dems should abstain or campaign for “No” on AV referendum

By Fred Carver | Tue 27th July 2010 - 12:20 pm

I’m passionate about PR. But when it comes to PR AV is, at best, a red herring.

Be very clear, AV is not one jot more proportionate than what we have now. It is a system of first Past the Post pure and simple. It does have other positive characteristics (although personally I think both our current FPTP and AV are systems I’d score at 0 out of 10) but it is not one iota more proportionate than the system we have now.

Some people have said that it is likely that AV will produce more proportionate outcomes. I think there are four things to bear in mind here:

Posted in Op-eds | 72 Comments

Revealed: the AV referendum question

By Helen Duffett | Mon 26th July 2010 - 1:35 pm

The wording of the question that voters will be asked in next May’s AV referendum has been published:

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 wording of the question is contained in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, published last week. (The question will also be made available in Welsh.) 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 …

Posted in Election law | Also tagged electoral commission, Fixed Term Parliaments Bill, nick clegg and Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill | 1 Comment

Opinion: Why are we campaigning for AV?

By Ben Stephenson | Sun 25th July 2010 - 10:25 am

We have never really been able to call the UK a true democracy. We have an unelected second chamber, made up of Lords Spiritual (Bishops), Lords Temporal (those granted hereditary peerages and selected by unelected party leaders) and Lords Surprising (Messrs Sugar and Prescott). The electorate in this country is allowed to vote for a change in government, so far, only at times that suit the government of the day and we have no codified constitution that outlines, irrevocably, a list of rights and freedoms.

The most obvious and fundamental issue with our democracy, however, is obviously the extent to which …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral reform | 48 Comments

The Independent View: Labour and Lib Dems must show a willingness to work together

By Will Straw | Fri 23rd July 2010 - 1:50 pm

As a long-term believer in the need for a more progressive politics, I take no great joy in the spate of polls showing the Liberal Democrats in free fall.

The latest projections from UK Polling Report show that a Lib Dem collapse to 15% in the polls would deliver a Conservative majority of 18 and the balance of power being held by the Tory right rather than the Lib Dem right. The Lib Dem concessions on inheritance tax, capital gains tax, and Europe – for which they should be praised – would go in a flash.

But the Lib Dems …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged left foot forward and nick clegg | 42 Comments

Combining referendum with elections will save £17m

By Mark Pack | Fri 16th July 2010 - 3:20 pm

The decision to schedule the planned referendum on AV for the same day next Spring as other elections are due has two primary arguments in its favour: turnout and cost.

The record of combining elections is that it increases turnout for the election type which traditionally has the lower turnout without depressing turnout for the other. Similarly, combining elections reduces costs as, for example, polling stations only have to be open for one day rather than two separate days.

The turnout factor is hard to estimate for a referendum/public elections combination but working out the likely costs is much easier and in …

Posted in Election law | 8 Comments

10 lessons for winning an AV referendum

By Mark Pack | Wed 7th July 2010 - 6:28 pm

An excellent post from Neil Stockley:

Holding a public vote on changing the voting system is a radical step for the UK. But it has been done before. In 1993, my home country, New Zealand held the second of two referendums to decide how to elect MPs. An established Westminster democracy voted by a 54:46 per cent margin to get rid of first past the post (FPTP) voting and put in its place the German-style mixed member proportional (MMP) system…

Of course, the UK in 2011 will not be New Zealand in 1993 and, for that matter, AV is not a proportional voting system. But I

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform, neil stockley and new zealand | 9 Comments

The AV referendum: some initial public opinion findings

By Mark Pack | Wed 7th July 2010 - 4:25 pm

From YouGov comes the news:

1) The principle of having a referendum on AV is popular with the support of 69% of the public.

2) Latest voting intentions in the AV referendum are 45% in support of AV, 32% in support of FPTP. 6% would not vote and 17% don’t know how they would vote.

3) However, support for AV is soft. We experimented by presenting people with six arguments in favour of AV, and six arguments against AV and then asking how they would vote in a referendum. This resulted in a significant drop in support for AV to 33% and a

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Posted in News | Also tagged electoral reform and yougov | 15 Comments

John Sharkey to run Liberal Democrats’ Fairer Votes campaign

By Helen Duffett | Mon 5th July 2010 - 5:20 pm

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has announced the appointment of John Sharkey as chairman of the Liberal Democrats’ Fairer Votes Campaign – the campaign for a “Yes” vote in next year’s AV referendum.

Nick Clegg said,

I am delighted that John Sharkey has accepted this role.

This is a vital campaign for the country and I can’t think of a better person than John to run it for the Liberal Democrats.

John Sharkey is one of Nick Clegg’s closest advisors and a former MD of Saatchi and Saatchi, who worked on the Conservatives’ 1987 General Election campaign.

More recently, he chaired the …

Posted in News | Also tagged john sharkey and nick clegg | 44 Comments

Nick Clegg’s statement on political and constitutional reform

By Helen Duffett | Mon 5th July 2010 - 4:28 pm

Nick Clegg has just made a statement in the House of Commons outlining the Government’s proposals for political and constitutional reform, including plans for a referendum on the use of the Alternative Vote system in the UK.

The statement included the announcement of two important dates: the date for the AV Referendum (in the Bill to be introduced before the Summer recess) is intended for 5 May 2011 and the next General Election on 7 May 2015.

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged electoral reform, nick clegg and parliamentary reform | 22 Comments

Opinion: Why Lib Dems should have no reservations about campaigning for AV

By Adam Bell | Sat 3rd July 2010 - 11:40 am

Lib Dems are necessarily an introspective bunch, given to minute analysis of the implications of our own policies in order to ensure they’re entirely fair & liberal. As a consequence, the compromises involved in the coalition agreement (and the practices thereof) have come as something of a brutal shock to many party members – most significantly over the VAT increase. I still find that unbelievable – why on earth would you raise a transaction tax when demand is weak? However, that’s not the issue at hand, which is the Alternative Vote.

The Alternative Vote works by enabling the voter to rank …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alternative vote and proportional representation | 22 Comments

Clegg to announce AV referendum date “next week”

By Helen Duffett | Thu 1st July 2010 - 6:35 pm

Reuters reports:

Liberal Democrats want a date to be set for a referendum on the move to the Alternative Vote system as a tangible reward for their role as junior coalition partners with the Conservatives.

The LibDems hope a vote can be held as early as next May, although AV actually falls short of their desire for a genuinely proportional voting system.

“I’m hoping to make an announcement literally in a couple of days, next week,” Clegg said in answer to a question after making a speech in London.

Read the full piece here.

And as Mark’s already blogged, it’s not too soon …

Posted in News | Also tagged alternative vote and nick clegg | 4 Comments

Preparing for the AV referendum: get asking

By Mark Pack | Tue 29th June 2010 - 10:20 am

With an AV referendum coming (most likely in the spring), there is plenty that local parties can already be doing to help win the referendum. I’ve already talked about the importance of fielding more local election candidates, so today’s post is about starting to ask questions of the public.

It’s never too early to start gathering voting intention data, even if you don’t yet know the exact candidate line-up, and likewise it’s never too early to start gathering referendum voting intentions, even if we don’t yet know the exact question.

When it comes to electoral reform, opinion polls show us …

Posted in News | Also tagged featured | 27 Comments

Preparing for the AV referendum: standing more local election candidates

By Mark Pack | Thu 17th June 2010 - 9:50 am

The connection between standing local election candidates and the AV referendum may not seem obvious at first, so imagine this scenario…

It’s quite likely that the referendum will be held on the same day as local elections, such as the May 2011 local elections.

The arguments over electoral reform will attract to the ballot box some people who don’t usually vote in local elections. If the pro-AV campaign goes well (and it starts with a lead) many of those people will be well disposed towards Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

And what will they find when they get handed another …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged local elections | 4 Comments

Timing the AV referendum

By Mark Pack | Tue 15th June 2010 - 9:20 am

When should the Government’s promised referendum on AV be held? That’s the question causing a fair amount of debate at the heart of the coalition.

From the simple good governance point of view, the answer is as soon as possible – because the sooner it is held, the more time there will be if AV is passed to get the law and then the administration right in good time ahead of the next general election. Late changes to election rules have been the bane of the electoral system far too often in the last decade.

The second, and more contentious, argument is …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alternative vote, electoral reform and featured | 40 Comments

Norman Lamb: “A Queen’s Speech of which Liberal Democrats can be proud”

By Norman Lamb MP | Tue 25th May 2010 - 8:40 pm

It is worth spending a moment reflecting on just how remarkable today’s Queen’s Speech is from a Liberal Democrat perspective.

We have become conditioned to believe that the policies we develop will never be implemented. A good intellectual exercise but nothing more. Yet here we have a programme for government of which we can be proud. It contains an extraordinary list of Liberal Democrat commitments on which we fought the general election.

Right from the start the speech grabs attention:

My Government’s legislative programme will be based upon the principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility.

Who would have dreamt of those words introducing the Queen’s speech just a few weeks ago?

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged alternative vote, child detention, constitutional reform, deficit, elected health boards, fixed-term parliaments, id cards, queen's speech, royal mail and tax | 36 Comments

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Tag Archives: av referendum

AV campaigns able to spend more than £11 million

Labour to oppose voting reform legislation

Opinion: Lib Dems should abstain or campaign for “No” on AV referendum

Revealed: the AV referendum question

Opinion: Why are we campaigning for AV?

The Independent View: Labour and Lib Dems must show a willingness to work together

Combining referendum with elections will save £17m

10 lessons for winning an AV referendum

The AV referendum: some initial public opinion findings

John Sharkey to run Liberal Democrats’ Fairer Votes campaign

Nick Clegg’s statement on political and constitutional reform

Opinion: Why Lib Dems should have no reservations about campaigning for AV

Clegg to announce AV referendum date “next week”

Preparing for the AV referendum: get asking

Preparing for the AV referendum: standing more local election candidates

Timing the AV referendum

Norman Lamb: “A Queen’s Speech of which Liberal Democrats can be proud”

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Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

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