Both are riding high at the moment on the well deserved acclaim for their performances in The King's Speech, neither can really claim to be experts on voting systems. Despite this lack of expertise they have both been enlisted by the Yes To AV campaign to encourage people to vote yes in the referendum.
 |
| One person who knows about the failings of the AV system and two people who don't |
I'm not that interested in what Colin and Helen say about AV, the person I want to hear from is Geoffrey Rush, the only one of the film's stars who has actually used the system. Indeed I'm at a loss as to why the Yes campaign haven't lined up a host of people from Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea to say how much they value the system. Might it be because the countries who use it don't think it works well and there are moves to scrap it in at least one of them?
I mentioned that Colin Firth has had a wobble in his support for the Lib Dems, back in December he renounced the party citing their U turn on tuition fees as being one of the main reasons. I find it particularly ironic that he is now supporting a voting system that makes unaccountable, post election, manifesto busting, back room, political deal making far more likely.
Posts
3 comments:
Both Fiji and Australia have systems which allow parties to designate another party to assign their votes if they are not one of the top parties. This is the main criticism of the AV system used in Fiji.
The difference with the proposals from the coalition government in the UK is that voters would chose how their votes are redistributed, not a political party.
The AV system proposed is already used for Mayor of London and other directly elected mayors to allow all people to express their preferences.
Jimmy,
The referendum question will not ask what form of AV is to be introduced so there will be no mandate for the version you describe.
With regard to the Mayoral election the ERS said the following on their website before expunging it: "The Electoral Reform Society regards AV as the best voting system when a single position is being elected. However, as AV is not a proportional system, the Society does not regard it as suitable for the election of a representative body, e.g. a parliament, council, committees, etc"
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill makes it clear the method that will be used and it does not allow parties to assign their supporter's votes. You should stop trying to scare your readers into thinking we will have the Fijian system when that is not what is proposed by the government. And when you talk about mandates, you know perfectly well that no referendum provides a mandate, it is only advisory.
It was the Conservative party who refused to allow a vote on a truely proportional system, preferring the AV system. The electoral Reform Society have recognised that the AV system is better than FPTP for parliamentary elections. What the No to AV campaign is arguing for is a continuation of the least fair and least proportional method of elections.
I hope you will recognise that there is no chance of the Fijian system being imposed on Britain while we have Conservatives in government.
Post a Comment