We welcome the new Government’s commitment to hold a referendum on using the Alternative Vote (AV) for parliamentary elections. In effect, AV is STV in single member constituencies; i.e. without a choice of candidates from the same party and without proportionality. It is a small step in the right direction towards STV in multi-member constituencies.

We congratulate the Liberal Democrats on achieving this historic advance and the Conservatives for their statesmanlike concession.

We also welcome the agreement to fixed term parliaments, which will make it more difficult for either party to renege on the coalition agreement.

We shall watch closely for progress on these two issues.

The BBC’s summary of all the proposed political reforms was blogged on this site a little earlier today.