Make My Vote Count

The campaign for voter choice and a more representative parliament

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The Campaign So Far

Democracy isn’t Deskbound campaign

This is MVC’s campaign launched in response to the publication of the Government’s review of electoral systems.  

We initially trailed our campaign a week before the Review’s publication, with a stunt / photo opportunity outside the Houses of Parliament. This had the dual purpose of trying to gain attention for the campaign and also raise the question as to why the report hadn’t yet been published. About a dozen supporters, including Peter Tatchell, turned up a wet, windy morning to take part. See photos from the launch here.

Attention then focused on the Review’s publication and the Government’s immediate response. The campaign was focused around a specially created mini-site which listed the various actions which supporters could do. The campaign actions related to highlighting and increasing support for an open public debate on electing MPs and the public’s role in the decision-making process. There was a petition to the Prime Minister; a pledge for taking part in future consultation; letter-writing to MPs and other politicians; and an opportunity to feed into the Ministry of Justice’s Governance of Britain initiative.

Supporter Response:

PETITION TO THE PM = 588 signatures.  

(Update 12/09/08: Government response finally received.)

PLEDGE TO TAKE PART IN A CONSULTATION = 297 signatures

DONATIONS received to support further MVC campaign activity = over £3000.

The response from supporters was absolutely fantastic.  The first goal was easily achieved of getting enough signatures on the petition to Gordon Brown to trigger the need for a formal reply from the Government.  The number of people pledging to take part in  a future consultation on voting reform exceeded the target originally too.

Although it is difficult to tell exactly how many people wrote to their MPs and to the Ministry of Justice - two further campaign actions - quite a number of supporters let us know they had done so. Also anecdotal evidence suggests the campaign was noticed: with MoJ officials impressed at the numbers of campaign postcards arriving into their offices.