We’re down to the final hours of campaigning on the referendum for the alternative vote. You’ve heard all of the arguments. There have been tendentious ones on both sides. Listening to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning I was struck by the summing up of the arguments.
Radio 4 put it like this: AV represents little “real change”, but it does represent change. No doubt about that.
Under AV candidates will supposedly have to reach out and be more consensual in the way they conduct their politics in order to woo second preference voters and ensure they pass the 50% barrier to ensure electoral victory. All true.
Equally so it will still be possible to vote tactically and scupper a candidate’s chances with second preference votes by putting them fourth in order of preference.
And no AV is not proportional electoral system. AV will not fundamentally alter the make-up of our democracy. There will still be MP expenses cheats and the House of Commons will fundamentally remain a three party system although the deck will have been shuffled and the distribution of cards will have changed.
As while it is clear there will be winners and losers under AV with by all accounts the Liberal Democrats doing well, which is fair enough given their previous share of the vote and how that does not translate into parliamentary seats under first past the post, there won’t be any new winners.
For supporters of other parties be they the Green Party or some other shade of contemporary British politics AV offers nothing at all.
This is one for the comments. With the arguing done how are people going to vote? What is the compelling argument that has swayed them either way?
