Referendum on AV

For all those concerned that they missed out voting this year and may not get another opportunity to vote in a national election before 2015, along comes another possibility - the referendum on AV! May 2010 is the most likely date at the moment but it still has to get through Parliament first.
Important in producing the coalition government, the referendum is a risk for both Cameron and Clegg, much to the potential Labour leaders' delight. An article in the Guardian analyses its risks for Clegg, the BBC looks at an overview of the issue and the Electoral Reform Society gives a good definition. What do you think? Will this be a victory for Clegg or Cameron or the Labour party? Will it actually make any difference to the fairness of the electoral system?

PS: Here is a video debate on AV by a Conservative and Lib Dem MP

Queen's Speech

There will obviously be a mass of news about what is in the Queen's Speech, but try and look out for the constitutional changes such as those expected re the Calman Reforms to the Scottish Government and the already hyped 55% rule, the referendum on electoral reform (AV) and the abolition of ID cards. The BBC is probably a good start and commentary from other sources such as Channel 4 and The Times (make the most of it before it charges!) will be useful.

Electoral Reform

Here is a useful article on electoral reform for AS revisers. If you see any other helpful stuff like this, please let us know and we'll add the links.

More good stuff here at the Electoral Reform Society, including its links to the Take Back Parliament pressure group, which is using methods from Twitter to mass demonstrations to get its message across.

Does the AV System have the X Factor?

Here's a handy Q&A from the BBC on the Alternative Vote system, as proposed by Gordon Brown this week. They then follow this up with an interesting comparison between the system and the models used by reality shows such as the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, concluding that the closest reflection of these in the political world are the French Presidential elections. Do you think the public would warm to the system if it were presented this way, or would it need the political version of Simon Cowell or Len Goodman to supplement it?

Brown Proposes Electoral Reform

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.)

Polling fun

A fun site here for the weekend - you can put in your own predictions for the General Election or look up target seats or analyse all the most recent polling data. Great for the mock election and election prediction competition coming up!

Gordon's Speech

How did you think Gordon did? The Prime Minister's speech has had a mixed reaction from the press. Many think he has succeeded in strengthening his position in the Labour Party but are not convinced he has persuaded enough of the public to change their opinion of him or his policies. Clearly The Sun's announcement that it will be supporting the Conservatives at the next election is a major blow for the party's morale.

His announcements on electoral reform are particularly interesting. He has promised that a referendum would be held early in the next parliament on the alternative-vote system (something that the conservatives are opposed to). Although supporters of electoral reform are encouraged by this, they point out that Tony Blair made a pledge for reform in the 1997 manifesto which was never followed through.