Now is the time for the long promised and overdue referendum on the AV+

By Lewis Baston

Labour promised a referendum on a new electoral system for the House of Commons in 1997 and has kept the voting system under review since then. It is time for Labour to make good on the referendum promise and give the electorate the ultimate power over how MPs are to be elected. The government should put forward a referendum, timed for election day (which we all assume to be 6 May 2010), on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote Plus proposed by the Independent Commission on the Voting System under Roy Jenkins in 1998.

Keeping a manifesto promise is a good thing in itself, and this particular one will have short term and long term benefits for the party. It would be a constructive response to the widespread public anger at politics as it currently is, channelling the desire for change into reform rather than populist anti-politics. It demonstrates a real dividing line between Labour and the Conservatives, whose anti-reform instincts become ever clearer.

It can put Labour back at the centre of a progressive coalition, drawing in civil society and campaigning groups beyond the usual participants in constitutional debates (environmental, poverty and international development bodies for instance) who favour more open politics and may join Yes and give the government credit. As well as helping Yes win, it would be a demonstration of Labour’s ability to work in a pluralist way and consider the longer term, as the Scottish and Welsh devolution processes illustrated. It would demonstrate Labour trusting the voters with the power to decide a crucial question.

But a referendum on the Alternative Vote alone is not enough. It would not accomplish much real change, it would look self-interested (even if it were not), would not create a broad coalition of support and would therefore lose and damage Labour.

But in spite of those things there is no time to lose. The preparations and the writing of the Referendum Bill should start immediately.

Calling a referendum on electoral reform is more than just a piece of unfinished business from 1997. It would be the most convincing demonstration that Westminster had realised the need for fundamental change and more popular control.

It would extend public service reform into the heart of the system by offering more choice and responsiveness in political representation.

It would rebuild some of the coalitions that unite progressive politics – and indeed progressives who stand outside the traditional party structure.

And it would be a gesture of good faith that would reconnect Labour to some supporters who have drifted away during our long and successful spell in government to date.

It is right in principle and it is in Labour’s electoral interests. It would redistribute power and set the next term of Labour government on a firm, radical footing of modernising institutions and empowering people.

Lewis Baston is a member of the Labour campaign for electoral reform.