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May 22, 2005
Patricia Hewitt calls for debate
In an interview with Steve Richards on GMTV this morning, Patricia Hewitt said:�I’ve always been in favour of electoral reform, but I’m not naive about it. Every voting system has its disadvantages, as well as potential advantages. There certainly isn’t a consensus at the moment in Parliament or in the government or indeed, I suspect, across the country, about what the best voting system would be. But personally, yes, I would like to see a much fuller debate on these matters than we’ve had. And I would hope that we could actually reach some resolution on this, but I think we could improve on the present voting system.�
Responding on behalf of Make Votes Count, the umbrella campaign for voting reform, Nina Temple said:
“Make Votes Count welcomes Patricia Hewitt’s remarks. At last a government minister is prepared to engage with, rather than try to deny, the groundswell of concern about Britain’s democracy provoked by the failings of the present voting system in the recent election. Ms Hewitt calls for a fuller debate in order to reach some resolution about how to improve on the present system. We therefore hope that she will press for the review of voting systems promised in Labour’s manifesto to be opened up to public consultation. At present it is being run as a low-key internal government review. The future of democracy is far too important to be left in some junior civil servant’s in-tray.�
Posted by ninatemple on May 22, 2005
Comments
Gratifying so far as it goes. I note also that Geoff Hoon seems to think that the government cannot continue to stonewall on the matter. In the debate it is most important that we should demand a REPRESENTATIVE system: and not succumb to the seductive voices of those in the government who would represent AV on its own in single-member constituencies as a "reform", which it most emphatically is not.
In this connexion I note that Ms Hewitt was very tentative and there was no mention of the need for a system which actually represents what the voters in the country as a whole want. I'm sure SHE won't have ruled out AV without the "plus"!
On the subject of AV here is a quote from a treatise on Electoral Reform by Joe Rogaly (sadly now out of print):
"the experience of Australia shows that the use of the Alternative Vote in single member constituencies (as distinct from in multi-member constituencies ie what we call Single Transferable Vote) has not reduced the power of the major political parties over candidate selection. It has not produced fair shares for parties in the Australian House of Representatives - rather the opposite."
Posted by: Joe Patterson at May 22, 2005 04:42 PM
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