No doubt ERS and MVC will be bringing pressure to bear on the Prime Minister. And I hope that many who read this blog will be writing to their MP's. I copy below the substance of a letter I am today sending by post to my MP. Doubtless not everybody will agree with my AV suggestions.

"Dear
On an occasion last year I was given to understand that you would ensure that I received a copy of the Green Paper - "The Governance of Britain" .This was in connexion with the vexed question of electoral reform. Something must have gone wrong with the system since I never received the promised copy and I never pursued the matter.

However, my interest in it has been revived by the "progress report" that has just crept out largely unnoticed: "Governance of Britain: one year on" . By having recourse to the Internet I have been able to compare the "progress" with the stated aims of the 2007 Green Paper.

You will not be suprised to learn that my particular concern was progress in the matter of the fundamental requirement that the House of Commons should consist of people who actually fairly represent what people have voted for.(What is the point of discussing constitutional reforms if the wrong people - ie people that in any rational sense were not elected - are principals in the discussion?). And in this regard it is difficult to ignore the fact that at present we have a minority government which has the support of no more than 37% of those who cast a vote, and a mere 21% of the total electorate - and yet has an overall parliamentary majority of 65 seats

On reading the original Green Paper I note that, while there are a number of paragraphs which logically imply electoral reform, eg paras 124,126 and 128, there is no specific recognition that it is a fundamental requirement despite the unequivocal 1997 manifesto commitments. There is mention of the "review" of new UK electoral systems; and the progress report reminds us that the report on this review - after eight years! - came out early this year. But this was a mere temporising device; and we all knew that by one means or another it would come up with the conclusion that we were going to hang onto the antediluvian first-past-the-post system, (the only example of it in the EU).

I know that you are a supporter of electoral reform - you told me this as far back as 1997 when I was still a member of the Labour Party and congratulated you on your electoral success ; and when, incidentally I warned that it was not at all unlikely that in view of the enormous (completely unrepresentative of course) majority achieved under FPTP, the tribalists in the party would force the reneging on the electoral reform commitments. My fear was realised, a fact that we must hopefully assume you did not at all welcome.

In spite of the negative progress report, I am wondering whether the present electoral position of the Labour party is perhaps prompting some rethinking on the part of MP’s (including Ministers) - especially those in favour of reform - about the unwisdom of the abandonment of the unequivocal electoral reform commitment .

My interest in reform is based on my belief in democracy. However, I have to admit also that for many reasons I would hate to see the election of another Tory government under FPTP- not the least of these reasons being that if the Tories were back in power under FPTP we could say goodbye to electoral reform of any kind for the foreseeable future.

It is now probably too late at last to honour the 1997 commitments, and introduce a proportional system, before the next election - even if the PM were minded to do so. However, there would I think be time to introduce AV: this is not proportional but if it were introduced before the next election the Tories - if elected under AV - would I suggest, find it difficult to revert to FPTP; and AV (ie STV in single-member consituencies) could, on a later more favourable occasion, be easily and logically developed into the proportional STV in multi-member constituencies, as in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

But AV would also represent more fairly the WEIGHT of left-of-centre opinion through later preference votes which are, under FPTP, completely wasted.And it could thus very well ensure that, after all, the Tories were NOT the victors at the next election . Something for Labour to ponder in face of the latest opinion polls."

Yours sincerely