Desk Review

The Government, at last, published its long-promised desk Review of Voting Systems this morning. There is a link to it at STV Action but commenting on it may take a little while as it is 197 pages long. However do please revisit later to see comments - and to make your own.

In his foreword to the Review, the Secretary of State, Jack Straw, writes:

"The Review does not make any recommendations for reform but describes the strengths and weaknesses of different voting systems to inform the continuing debate on electoral reform."

Whilst it may be disappointing (but surely not surprising) that there is no recommendation for reform, it means that all options remain open and we are not about to be diverted or divided by a campaign for a second rate system. The Review keeps reform on the political agenda and those of us who believe STV is the best option must redouble our efforts. As evidence that STV is the leading contender to replace FPTP, the Electoral Reform Society recently reported that 7 out of 10 reports on voting systems since 1997 have recommended STV: http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk/opus25969/ERS_Briefing_Summary_-_Context_of_Government_Review.pdf

The Executive Summary of the Review states that the Government welcomes "contributions to the debate" so I hope all STV supporters will make those contributions.

The following quotations from the summary especially interest me.

"A difficult issue in both Scotland and Wales [where AMS is used] has been the friction between constituency and list members. Part of the issue has been the fact that unsuccessful candidates for constituency seats can be elected through the list. The tensions have been exacerbated by the fact that list members are mainly from opposition parties."

and

"STV for the Northern Ireland Assembly has led to the most [party] proportional distribution of seats in any UK election."

This is a very welcome bonus, because high party proportionality has never been the most important factor for STV supporters, who also value other proportionalities and voter choice.

You can visit http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/uk_politics/7205551.stm for a BBC report on the Review.

My STV Action colleagues and I hope to write more about this on www.stvAction.org.uk within the next few days so please visit and, of course, we would like you to post your views on the site. STV Action is the major site dedicated solely to campaigning for STV.
Uncontested elections

Local elections in the UK show that STV is more likely to result in contested elections than FPTP.

"Twenty-five councillors have been guaranteed a seat in Easington, County Durham, without a single vote being cast." - Candidates Victorious! (No Election Necessary from the Electoral Reform Society

There were similar problems in other parts of England in 2007, but no seats were uncontested in the STV elections in Scotland.

I am grateful to my colleague, John Cross, for pointing this out.

Should MPs decide how they are elected?

You can join the debate, and even vote on it, at http://www.talkdemocracy.org.uk/talk/viewtopic.php?t=219