The voters who list up to 80 candidates in order of preference
The Australian election has been fun to observe from the other side of the planet, what with the back-stabbing of Kevin Rudd, the shaky campaign and the hung Parliament. I have a curious fact about...
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First day back for a surly group of MPs
Westminster is alive again: the corridors are full, there a queues for the canteens, gossip is being traded. But even though a large chunk of the House is made up of new MPs, fresh faced, and hopefully...
View ArticleThoughts for Guy Fawkes’ day
As it’s Guy Fawkes Day, at the end of a long run of bum-numbingly exhausting late night sittings, the idea of metaphorically blowing up parliament and all its antiquated working practices has a...
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Vince plays the Ann Widdecombe card on AV
With several weeks to go before the AV referendum the arguments are starting to get slightly repetitive. But Vince Cable has tried a different slant on the debate during this morning’s joint press...
View ArticleConservative MPs threaten AV revenge
Nick Clegg has been warned by senior Conservative MPs that they will wreak revenge on him for the Liberal Democrats’ “Easter uprising”, including frustrating his plans for elections to the House of...
View ArticleFT video: Miliband defends troubled AV campaign
Two tests await Ed Miliband, Labour leader, and his party: polls across the country, and a referendum on the alternative voting system for which he is a principal campaigner. George Parker, political...
View ArticleWilliam Hague excels in his anti-AV speech
I’ve just returned from the final No 2 AV rally at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster*. (Inexplicably the Yes rally is at 8.30pm tonight, after most journalists have gone home/to the pub.) A...
View ArticleFT video: Political bickering dominates AV referendum
George Parker, political editor, tells the FT's Daniel Garrahan that the referendum on the alternative vote has been dominated by party political bickering. And the cracks that have started to appear...
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Senior Liberal Democrats will be at AV count after all
One rumour of recent days is that the Lib Dems are so demoralised about their impending AV defeat that none will bother to attend the official count down in Docklands. The theory adds to the...
View ArticleSlideshow: UK elections and the AV referendum
Britain went to the polls on Thursday in a mix of local elections in England and national polls for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Voters also have their say in a referendum on changing the...
View ArticleHow should Labour handle the AV issue?
It would have been more of a surprise if the coalition had decided to hold its referendum on voting reform on a different day; for example in October. The working assumption for the last month has been...
View ArticleIs electoral reform necessarily good for the Lib Dems?
MPs are as confused as psephologists about the likely impact of the double dose of electoral reform which could hit voters in 2015. Not only are they trying to get their head round the possible effects...
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Amendments could kill AV’s chances
The Guardian’s story that Labour is planning to vote against the AV bill as it currently stands is an important development in the passage of electoral reform. But Labour won’t be able to block the...
View ArticlePublic support for AV is nosediving
The fledgling “yes” campaign for AV says it is too early to make premature judgments. The Electoral Reform Society, for example, says that polls will inevitably jump around given that the formal...
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