Should the UK switch to AV?

What it says in the title.

The referendum is happening on the 5th May to decide if we switch to AV or stay with "first past the post". What's your opinion on it?

I want to try searching around for some info on the 2 systems but both the Yes and No campaigns seem biased by politics. Anyone got got any decent links on the matter?

Also is there better systems than the 2 mentioned above?

i think i will be voting for av. that way the politicians will have to interact and please more ppl for their votes. at the moment they just serve enough ppl to get a majority that will win. it would also take politics away from a 2 horse race and make it easier for other candidates to get in.for too long its been a 2 horse race its either labour or conservative. But they dont get in because thy are good, they get in because the other has cocked the country up. ppl dont seem to realise that there are other parties out there, they just switch votes to the one not in power thinking it will sort it out. in my view its not a democracy at the moment.

In my opinion yes, we should.

Here are a few links with more information.

A Cambridge math professor does the sums: gowers.wordpress.com...
A good synopsis of what it's all about: www.electoral-reform.org.uk...
The No2AV leaflet corrected: imgur.com...

In a nutshell AV will make voting fairer - MPs will have to work harder to win and retain second, third and fourth (etc.) choice votes and a broader range of politics will be represented in Parliament.

The current system means British politics will always be dominated by the Tories and Labour, which clearly isn't working.

reply to post by Chilled Zen


No, we shouldn't switch to AV.

I don't see why your sixth choice of candidate carries the same worth as my first and only choice.

So I'm voting no.

That plus it's a finger in the eye to that Judas, Nick Clegg.

reply to post by Niall197


You can still vote for only 1 candidate if you wish - you can vote for as many as you want, it just means that those with additional preferences can have more choice, and more people can be represented in the final result.

This cartoon sums it up perfectly: b3ta.com...

It would be foolish to vote against something that will vastly improve British politics on the basis that nick Clegg is a spineless liar; you may as well cut your nose off to spite your face.

reply to post by Khayal


I'd rather cut my nose to spite my face than have the Liberal Democrats in power permanently.

Because that's all this exercise is for, it's to ensure a permanent Liberal Democrat & A.N.Other coalition government. Think about it ... the Liberals permanently in government. That's every bit as unacceptable as the current position, it's just replacing one wrong with another.

reply to post by Niall197


Clegg has done the Lib Dems enough damage to ensure they don't get in power again for a long time, or at least while he's in power.

This is one of the few promises the Lib Dems have actually kept and a really good step forward which short sighted people who can't see past the Lib Dem support could ruin for the rest of us.

Remember - the BNP are against AV; they're worse than the Lib Dems in my book, not that individual party support should make any difference with something like this.

Double post - sorry.

Even tho I vote Liberal (was more for our MP Norman Baker) I prefer the FPTP system and will be voting that way.

The AV systems appears to me to simply be yet another way of gerrymandering the elections while giving the people a false sense of change..

I would prefer a ground up change in both houses and the way this country is run.

reply to post by Khayal


You're preaching to the unconvertible, my friend.

My NO vote at the referendum will render yours worthless. You might as well stay in bed

Rather than see this as a vote on AV, see this as an opportunity to cast your opinion of the First Past The Post (FPTP) system.

It was FPTP that has given us the current Government and the opportunity to vote. Typically, FPTP has given us parties that enjoy a majority of seats in Westminister, but this time, the British people voted in such a way as to not give one party a clear majority of seats in westminister.

Does this mean that AV is a better system? Lets have a look at my local constituency

Number of people of the electral register - 90,561

Number of votes casted - 57,973 Turnover 64%

Votes casts for the winning candidate - 23,679. That's 26% of the total number of people on the electral register and 40% of the votes cast.

So 60% of those who voted did not vote for the winning candidate and 74% of those on the electral register did not vote for the winning candidate.

At least we are being given the opportunitym to vote on this issue. Closer union with Europe was not deemed important enough for us to vote on!

I would rather have had 'NONE OF THE ABOVE' option and everyone of voting age required to vote by law.

Working on the premise that FPTP fails to give a truely representative government or anything close I will vote yes.

Do I think it will make a real difference, NO.