It has emerged that MPs will vote next week on whether a referendum should take place to consider reform of the electoral system. The first past the post system would be replaced with the alternative vote system (currently used in Australia),allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gained 50% of the vote the first time round, votes for the least successful candidates would be redistributed until a winner emerged. There is no possibility of the system being used in the current election, and one could argue that this is a purely political move designed to show the Conservatives as resistant to change. More news here and comment from Nick Robinson here.
PS: Here is the Electoral Reform Society's website (They recommend the Single Transferable Vote system).
PPS: Newsnight's programme on Tuesday night (2 Feb) had an amusing report linking Brown's reforms proposals to Groundhog Day. Catch it here. (The Groundhog says there's going to be 6 more weeks of winter, by the way.)
