This Alternative Vote thing is important

Unfortunately it’s turned into a bit of a petty squabble.  You might have seen the ‘No’ campaign bizarrely telling us babies will be in danger if we vote for change or heard ‘Yes’ campaigner Chris Huhne likening Baroness Warsi to Joseph Goebbels in retaliation. But let’s put the nasty rhetoric aside and take this rare opportunity to decide what’s best for us, the ordinary British people who have honest views and preferences about the country we live in.

There has been a lot of debate – and Johann Hari brilliantly cuts through the crap here - but for me it comes down to this. First Past The Post (our current system) works well in a two horse race; one candidate will get over 50% of the vote and therefore have a clear and justifiable mandate to govern. When there are more than two sizeable parties though, it makes sense to be able to rank those we support in order of preference.

The Alternative Vote system (AV) enables us to do this, simply by asking us to write the numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on next to the candidates we like best (if we choose to that is, if we just want to support one candidate that’s ok, we just put a 1). If a candidate has enough first preferences to take them over the 50% mark, they win. If not, second, then third preferences and so on are taken into account until we find the winner. This means that no party has the right to govern without getting more that 50% of the vote. Simple.

In the 1980s, more of than half us of us didn’t want Mrs Thatcher in power, but because of First Past The Post she managed it anyway. With Alternative Vote, she’d have been forced to listen to the majority views of the nation.  Same with Blair in the noughties.

Incidentally, this is precisely why the BNP are actively campaigning for the ‘No’ campaign. They know that at most, on an exceptionally good day for them, they might be able to get 25% or even 30% of the vote in some areas, and in these instances First Past The Post could deliver them a seat. With AV, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

So, if you fancy shaking up the way we do politics in this country, and helping give all of us more of a say, go and vote yes on Thursday.  If enough of us do it we can make a difference.

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