Peter Kellner: “we should endorse AV”

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

UPDATE: Also on Next Left, Stuart White on why he doesn’t find Peter Kellner’s argument for AV convincing.

Over on Next Left, Peter Kellner, the President of YouGov, has declared his support for the Alternative Vote. In his post, he says that there are five priorities that should inform our voting system, and those priorities are that general elections should:

* Give voters a clear way to “throw the rascals out” by replacing governments they do not like with the main alternative
* Lead to stable government
* Provide local communities with MPs that command the support of a majority of local voters
* Ensure the representation in Parliament of significant minorities, but not give them disproportionate influence
* Keep small, extremist parties out of Parliament

“These priorities lead me to support the Alternative Vote...AV keeps the virtues of first-past-the-post (FPTP) while tackling two of its defects. Like FPTP, it is loaded in favour of large parties, and therefore retains a clear choice of government in normal circumstances; and it retains the current constituency link, whereby each MP represents a defined locality. On the other hand, it improves the prospects of moderate, medium-sized parties that FPTP can punish cruelly; and it makes sure that no candidate can be elected who is actively opposed by a majority of local voters.”

More and more, Labour people are coming out in favour of AV. In the past couple of months, Alan Johnson, Anthony Painter and Roy Hattersley – who was previously opposed to the system – have all declared their support of it. And at Compass’ recent No Turning Back conference, the overall feeling of the day was that a new politics will require a new form of representation.

The First Past the Post system, in which only a small number of marginal seats hold disproportionate influence on the outcome of a general election – and in which a large number of seats are “safe” for one party or another – is tired. True, FPTP produces relatively strong governments with a clear mandate, but isn’t it time Labour began to reach out to re-enfranchise the disillusioned, and sought to include as many voices as possible in our politics, and in as represenative a way as we can?

The Alternative Vote is not a panacea to our democractic torper, but it could be the beginning of a new, more inclusive political culture.