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February 21, 2006
Tony backs STV
Yes, it is official. The great man himself supports STV. Last night one of the foremost political minds and communicators of the last fifty years came out publicly in support of voting reform for Westminster. In response to a question on the subject, he boldy stated "I am in favour of STV ... the right to a preferential vote would go a long way to improving our democracy." Thus spoke Tony Benn at a meeting at UCL's Bloomsbury Theatre.
Tony's passion, wit and honest approach kept the audience rapt for over two hours. He started with a 40 minute tour de force exploration of the state of British democracy and its historical context. The bulk of the time though was taken up with him answering question after question from the audience.
Among the many pearls of wisdom, Tony made some very telling comments about voting and political participation. He - rightly - believes that voting is about power, and that unless politicians can be properly held accountable by their electorate, then that relationship is fundamentally imbalanced. He suggests that we should all ask five questions of anyone in a position of power; the final question being "how can I get rid of them?" While all MPs could respond with a pat "you can vote me out at election time", this is simply not the practical reality for many people. Blaenau Gwent in 2005, Wyre Forest in 2001, Tatton in 1997 are the exceptions that prove the rule: that outside of marginal constituencies it is very difficult to unseat an incumbent MP.
Tony also tackled systems. He repeatedly stated his opposition to closed lists, such as that used for electing MEPs, as they give too much power to political parties. He illustrated this point with an anecdote from his time serving on Labour's National Policy Forum, under Neil Kinnock's leadership. The issue of electoral systems was being discussed and Tony asked whether, if they were to introduce a closed list, would he (as a known 'trouble-maker') be at the bottom. To which Neil just gave a knowing smile.
Posted by malcolmclark on February 21, 2006
Comments
Benn, in favour of STV? I'm sure he was always opposed to reform before now. Ah well, even if he is persona non grata to the leadership, can only be a good thing for the campaign overall.
Posted by: MatGB at February 22, 2006 01:21 AM
Tony Benn in favour of STV?! This really is gratifying and a move in the right direction for electoral reform. I recently had some correspondence with Tony and then he was insistent that AV was the best system - which surprised me coming from such an informed source. I shall be writing to him again welcoming his conversion and urging him to use his brilliant oratory in spreading the word.
Posted by: Joe Patterson at February 27, 2006 03:58 PM
"Dear Joe
Thanks
I am totally opposed to the List system and favour two-member constituencies each elcting one man and one woman on STV
Tony"
Above is a message I have received from Tony Benn in reply to mine welcoming his"conversion". However, as will be seen, what he means by STV is certainly not what we mean:ie a largely proportional system - requiring constituencies with an optimum six or seven seats. As the number of seats decreases so STV becomes less and less propotional. Two seats as proposed by Tony is not much better than what we call AV (ie STV in single-member constituencies)or indeed first-past-the-post. So sadly the rejoicing we have seen on these pages is apparently premature.
Posted by: Joe Patterson at February 27, 2006 11:00 PM
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