David Hamilton

Our voting system: A cancer at the heart of politics

It seems extraordinary that people are not more excited about being given the chance to change our voting system, especially as it comes just 2 years after the expenses scandal, which proved undeniably the degree to which MPs take our votes for granted. And the reason they take our votes for granted is because our current voting system allows them to do so. The 5th May represents a fantastic opportunity to change our entire system of politics, to make our MPs more accountable and to give ourselves choice.

It is ironic that while we continually value choice in our everyday lives - the choice of cheeses at the supermarket or of gas supplier for example - we seem unconcerned that, when it comes to choosing our government, we have almost no choice. It inevitably comes down one of three options: vote for the incumbent candidate, vote against them by selecting their nearest rival, or have a wasted vote. In fact, the reality is worse than that, because we end up voting tactically in order to keep out candidates we dislike. So we end up voting, not for candidates, but against them - all due to the inadequacies of our current voting system.

With everyone voting negatively to keep out candidates, the candidates themselves end up campaigning negatively, seeking to gain votes by destroying the reputation of the other candidates. Thus we end up with negative, bitchy campaigns which systematically avoid discussing how to improve life for the voters - again, purely because of the voting system.

AV fixes that by getting rid of the need for tactical voting. You purely put the candidates in the order that you prefer them, and the system takes care of the rest. It is that simple - literally as simple as 1,2,3 - allowing voters the full choice of candidates and finally giving us the kind of choice that we’ve taken for granted in supermarkets for years.

Not surprisingly, given that lack of choice benefits them, the main political parties have been putting about a number of lies about AV. The main one is that it brings about weak, coalition governments. The best answer to that is to look at Australia, where types of AV have been in use since 1918, and yet the last hung parliament (before the current one) was 1940! The other lie is that full Proportional Representation is a more democratic system, which is fine in theory. In practice it turns out that, because it uses list systems controlled by the parties, full PR results in power moving to the political parties themselves, rather than the voters. Italy has found, to its cost, that no matter who they vote for, the same political clique keep power.

The truth is that AV is actually the best system available, bringing choice and power to voters while delivering stable governments. It also has the key strength of having one MP who, dependent on our votes, actually has to listen to us.

Our current electoral system is a cancer at the heart of our politics - sucking away choice and ideas and replacing them with negativity and vitriol. The only conceivable reason to vote ‘No’ on the 5th May is if you work for one of the main political parties. If you’re a voter, the choice is obvious - to vote ‘Yes’ and do away with a terrible system that has given rise to bad politics and MPs that take us for granted. It is, quite literally, a once in a lifetime opportunity: Vote Wisely.