The case Against Electoral Reform

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Mary-Ann Uvieghara

The Argument against Electoral reform

FPTP has persisted over the long history of Britain because it is familiar to the public, votes are simple to cast and count, and there is no surging public outcry for change. It usually leads to a one-party majority government. This enables the electorate to vote only for a local representative, while in fact choosing the party they wish to form a government. It then leaves each Member of Parliament (MP) with a direct relationship with a particular geographical area i.e. their constituencies, on a basis of at least nominal equality in the sense that they are all elected in the same way. It also enables the electorate sharply and cleanly to rid itself of an unwanted government.

With the coalition tentatively reaching for electoral reforms, what would be the best system to replace it with? Does it even need to be replaced? I am going to examine each possible system and what it would how it would fulfil the needs created by FPTP

AV

The simplest change from FPTP would be the alternative vote, why -because it maintains almost the same criteria and fulfils almost the same needs as FPTP does. It would maintain the link between an MP and his/her constituencies .It would increase voter choice in the sense that it would enable voters to express their second , third or fourth preferences, which frees them from the  choice between realistic and ideological commitment or voting tactically. It might indeed lead to larger parliamentary majorities thus ensuring a stronger, more stable government .Changing to AV would eliminate the need for boundary changes which means that it could be easily and speedily implemented once the government receives a positive vote from the referendum. It would also allow the MP to command greater at least majority acquiescence within his constituency, which is far from being the case under FPTP, where  we have seen nearly  half of members have more opponents than supporters and a member can be elected (as in Inverness in 1992) with as little as 26% of the vote.

 PROJECTED OUTCOMES OF 1997 ELECTION WITH BETWEEN USING AV TOP-UP WITH 15% AND 20% TOP-UP MEMBERS 
 

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However AV would bring about less proportionality that FPTP, Simulations of how the 1997 result might have come out under AV suggest that it would have significantly increased the size of the already swollen Labour majority. The overall Labour majority could thus have risen from 169 to 245. AV on its own, because it makes use exclusively of single-member constituencies, would fail to address several of the more significant defects of FPTP. In particular, there would still be large tracts of the country which would be electoral deserts for major parties. Conservative voters in Scotland, for example, might ...

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