this important referendum is nearly upon us and i thought it would be interesting explore the views held by this BB

after much thought, i have decided to vote against AV
i do not dispute that "first past post the post" is in some ways unfair - so is life and golf! - but i am far from convinced that AV is intrinsically much better

i would rather have a stronger gov't of some hue than a weak coalition or mps (and parties) who have felt obliged to trim their sails to offend the least number and thus gain a few more secondary votes

full-blown PR is at least "fair", but even then, there are many examples of horribly weak and unstable gov'ts, which is also pretty disastrous

finally, and of greatest concern, i suspect the turnout for this referendum will be +/-35% at best and probably a lot lower in many parts of the country
it follows that those who vote in this will be (relative) "activists" for lack of a better word, for the run-of-the-mill voter will find the whole thing too complicated and voting on it all, too much of a fag
thus, if there is a change in our voting system, then it is very likely to have been pushed through by <20% of the electorate - is that fair?

to clarify for all .....

Conservatives hold 305 but under AV (as above) would reduce to 283
Labour hold 255 but under AV (as above) would reduce to 246
Lib Dems hold 57 but under AV (as above) would increase to 89
Others hold 33 but have assumed they would stay the same

using the logic of the general election, that still left the Conservatives as the largest party and theoretically would still have formed a coalition with the Lib Dems, though no doubt even less comfortable than is now the case

The supposition is that if we had AV then punters would vote in the same way.

the only voters to vote yes will be the ones that no they will never get power thank god. libs are liars and would and do stab ever one in theback and the last 12 months says it all clegg cable total liars

.

quite so fred, but one can only work from the facts and info to hand

mna. they would betray there mothers for power ,scum comes to mind

mna. they would betray there mothers for power ,scum comes to mind

the libs no that thevote will be NO they arenow trying to save there soles

.

tanks - you really are ridiculous at times and merely make yourself look so ..... if you had commented that politicians as a breed rarely if ever act altruistically or somesuch, your post would have had some credibility

cynic i think you will find that even the hard line libs would now agree with me .
clegg as done the country a good favour destoying the party which is very good for the country

cynic . how many libs in gov will be tory candidates next election ?

probably none

cynic you would lose money there will be at least one alexander
margret would be proud of him

.

mna. thanks for understanding my post the point is we need the best to return this country round for the good of the uk

Cynic ,

If Fred is for AV so will Stan

utopia is said to be very nice too

.

A mature society would be acceptable.