Vagaries of electing our politicians
MOVES to change the voting system for Westminster elections will be a challenging test for the cohesion of the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government with a clear dividing line between the two parties on what is a very fundamental political issue.
Part of the deal for Tories to persuade Lib Dems to go into coalition was the concession of a referendum proposing a change from the first-past-the-post system to an AV (alternative vote) method.
Details of a May 2011 referendum will be announced tomorrow by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, but the battle lines are drawn, with Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague confirming they will campaign to maintain the status quo.
An AV election system, if approved in a referendum, would undoubtedly provide the Lib Dems with a larger Commons representation, but it may lead more often to a situation whereby no single party (Conservative or Labour) could muster an overall majority with the result that decisive government would be very difficult to achieve.
Interestingly, Germany operates with a proportional representation to its parliament and the Germans could never be accused of indecisiveness in how they run their affairs.
Significant sections of the Labour Party have declared against the AV system, but, with Lib Dems seeking the referendum on the day Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland vote for their devolved administrations, the proposal for change could succeed.
Northern Ireland voters have since the 1970s used PR for Stormont elections and district councils and the Ulster Unionists may have fared better by winning several seats in the recent general election had such a method been in vogue.
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 15 February 2012
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