Simon Burgess  for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven

Vote for Alternative Vote

2nd February 2010 - The Prime Minister is announcing plans to hold a Commons vote on whether a post-election referendum should be held on a switch the Alternative Vote system. The vote could be held before the House rises next Wednesday for half-term, with the referendum itself taking place as early as autumn 2011. He will make the announcement in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research along with action to clamp down on nom-domiciled MPs and peers. The AV system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, rather than simply placing an X next to their favoured candidate; candidates with fewest votes are eliminated and their votes redistributed until a winner emerges with an overall majority. Both Simon and Des have been arguing for AV for many years.

Simon commented; "This is great news, an historic move towards making every vote count. It allows voters to put candidates in order of preference giving those elected greater legitimacy which is desperately needed. I would go further and support AV plus which would be the same but with a regional top up to ensure that the vote for a given party across a whole region is better reflected. The Conservatives don't want this which shows the only 'change' they want is that of going back to the past as shown by their views on cuts to public services, tax cuts for the rich and bringing back fox-hunting".