AV: electoral reform is good for Hackney

The referendum on changing the way we vote takes place on 5 May

It is extraordinary.  Our television screens have recently been filled with images of people in the Middle East fighting for freedom, the vote, democracy.  Our newspapers have had photographs of blood-soaked men walking towards the camera in high distress.  Our pundits have praised the raw courage and determination of the protesters.

Meanwhile in the UK, the home of democracy, a crushing inertia rules politics.

Thanks to the expenses scandals and the poor calibre of our MPs, the British electorate is disillusioned and dormant.

On 5 May we are to have a referendum to decide the method of electing our Members of Parliament.  The current method, so called ‘First Past the Post’, is discredited and redundant.  It fails every test save nostalgia.

The proposed new method is the Alternative Vote or AV.  This is not revolutionary – just evolutionary.  It has benefits of which the overwhelming one is that it makes our politics more modern, more responsive and fairer.  It is an upgrade.  Not perfect perhaps – no voting system is perfect – but an improvement.

What did the existing First Past the Post system deliver in last May’s election?  It delivered 89% of the seats in Parliament to two parties that between them collected less than 57% of the votes.

It delivered the absurdity that it took three times as many votes to elect a Liberal Democrat MP as an MP from one of the two main parties (I am not a Liberal Democrat supporter, but I think they should enjoy the same opportunities as anyone else). Most people voted for losing candidates, not winning ones.

The change to AV is not complex.  Instead of placing a single cross on a ballot paper, the voter lists his or her preferences by writing the numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on.  This is not beyond the British electorate.

The result will be greater fairness because no candidate will be elected until he or she has at least 50% of votes.

Some things will go and nostalgia will be everywhere.  Most safe seats will go.  Tactical voting will go.  Many wasted votes will go. Candidates just appealing to a narrow section of the electorate will find it more difficult to compete.

Unlike in much of the rest of the UK, in London there are no other elections on 5 May – just this referendum.  Will people turn out and vote in it ?  Will they overcome their disillusionment and vote ?  I sincerely hope so. We need to shock our existing politicians into realising that much is at stake here and that the people recognise it.

They need that shock.  Conservatives MPs wish to retain the existing system.  Many Labour MPs are also going to support the status quo because it gives them an opportunity to batter the Liberal Democrats. There is no justification ever for this abhorrent ‘dog in a manger’ stance.  It inhibits change and freezes progress.

Men and women fought and died for the rights we have.  Men and women are dying in the Middle East to acquire what we have.  We must not let democracy slip through our fingers.  We must embrace change and move forward to more adult politics.  Be encouraged to turn out on 5 May and vote for change, an upgrade and fairer politics. Vote ‘YES TO AV !’

Tony Price lives in Hoxton.  He is a filmmaker and joiner.  He is an active supporter of the Electoral Reform Society.