By Keith Best, Chair of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform:

The Conservative-led coalition has promised a referendum next May to let the people choose between the present voting system (first past the post) and the Alternative Vote (AV) for electing MPs. What should Conservatives do in the referendum? A fully fair proportional system would be the single transferable vote in multi-member constituencies but this will not be an option in the referendum and, in any event, is not favoured by many Conservatives.

The basic difference for the voters, if the change takes place, is simply that they will be able to vote 1, 2, 3 according to their real preferences, instead of with X sometimes based on whom they want to keep out. The other change they will notice is that their MP will enjoy the support at least half the valid votes whereas over two-thirds of current MPs were elected with a much smaller share of the vote. For example, Madeleine Morgan (Labour, Bridgend) had only 36% of the votes in May 2010 while Ian Murray (Labour, Edinburgh South) had only 35%.

For Conservatives, there are many attractions for this relatively small change to the electoral system. AV will:-
• retain single-member constituencies;
• strengthen the link between MPs and constituents because each MP will be elected by at least half the valid votes;
• and, because of that, also strengthen MPs’ authority in Parliament;
• give voters more influence because it will encourage them to vote positively for the candidate they most want and (if they wish) to rank the candidates in order of choice;
• demonstrate by preferential voting the true level of support for the Conservatives in metropolitan and other areas where the Conservative Party has been squeezed. For example, in constituencies like Dundee East and Rochdale, the party’s true strength will emerge because Tory voters will be able to make the party their first choice without fear of letting the “wrong” party in by splitting the vote.

Furthermore, it is not a proportional system, which Liberal Democrats would have preferred.

Overall, AV will be better for voters because more votes will influence the results and will not be wasted, and better for the country because MPs will carry more authority with the support of more votes.

Please visit http://www.conservativeelectoralreform.org/ for more information on Conservative Action for Electoral reform.