Tag Archives: fptp

Opinion: Achievable electoral reform for 2015

By Adrian Pellas-Rice | Wed 28th January 2015 - 1:05 pm

Securing an initial cross-party agreement is rarely enough to deliver constitutional reform. The dilemma for proponents of proportional voting is that such a fundamental change will always require a lengthy period of consultation. This time is a boon for the backroom operators in the big parties looking to backpedal, backstab, and poison the water. Ask Labour or the Tories for proper voting reform and what you will get is a long-term commitment that is lukewarm and effectively worthless.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral reform | 50 Comments

Opinion: Cameron is wrong on AV and dog-tired governments

By Kelly-Marie Blundell | Sun 24th April 2011 - 12:44 pm

Cameron launched a paternalistic attack on potential Yes to AV Voters in The Evening Standard this week. I would have commented earlier but I was incredulous that such arguments could be put across to persuade people against voting for AV in the forthcoming referendum.

The strongest reason Cameron dictated was that FPTP allowed the public to kick out “dog-tired” governments. The irony therein is that the Coalition has created fixed term parliaments.

As a result, a “dog-tired” government can only be removed with a motion of no confidence outside of this period. The last Motion of No Confidence was