More on AV

The AV referendum hinges on whether we have a good system now or not. My answer is simple, not. General elections are decided by a few thousand voters in marginal constituencies and this means that the vast majority of votes don't affect the result. For the vast majority of MPs their biggest hurdle to re-election will be to get the party nomination, not the votes of the electorate. If that is the case then the MP only has to be concerned with the wishes of the party members.

Compare that to AV. Not only does an MP have to persuade party members that they are worthy of becoming their MP, but they also have to persuade voters who prefer other parties. AV is centrist. It limits extremism. The image of a 100m race being won by the person in last place is just not right. If this were the case then the BNP would support it but AV is not about to make huge changes to results but it would make everyone think twice about their more extreme views.

AV is far better than the present system.

Change the world (or at least the electoral system by voting yes)