Why I’m voting no to AV
On May 5, the Alternate Vote Referendum is taking place across the UK. The Conservatives are strongly no, and Labour and the Liberal Democrats are pro-AV.
My mum received her poll card recently, and she was unaware about what the referendum is all about. So I attempted to explain; and I explained it poorly. It’s not that my knowledge lacks in AV, but instead because it’s terribly difficult to simply explain the AV system. I then found a youtube video to explain AV; and she was not impressed. Not overly political, my mum (as with many other people) enjoys the simplicity of First-Past-the-Post (FPTP). If the populace does gain a majority in yeses to AV, I will not envy the people working in polling stations in the next general election, attempting to educate the relatively uninterested on how to vote.
Not only is simplicity something which sides me to FPTP, but also the fact that it fuels indecision in the voter. Leading parties change because of those voters which sway. But what about those who have an alliance with a specific party? I am a member of the Conservative Party, and I do not wish for the possibility for another party to gain a vote from me if the conservative MP I vote for does not fain a majority and is knocked out.
There is a great worry that more extreme parties will gain greater influence in parliament, and this too is a worry for me. As much as many people dislike the main and largest political parties – they know what they’re doing. Would you really trust a member of the British National Party, the Pirate Party, the Libertarian Party etc. to represent you and your constituency and lobby your constituency’s needs – I think not. This is the primary concern for many anti-AV people. But there’s one more issue hidden behind this – with more diversity in parliament, parties will have to form coalitions more in order to gain an overall majority in parliament. And coalitions are not desirable – it shows that there is no consensus and therefore there will be fragmentation in decision making. FPTP means that there are less parties at the top, generally meaning strong majorities can be gained nationally, allowing for strong and decisive decision making.
On person, one vote has worked for us for hundreds of years. Just because of some relatively short term problems which can either directly or indirectly blamed on front-line politics, we need not scrap a system that is simple and works. But instead, we need to trust that because political downfalls have been highlighted, they will be addressed. So let’s not ruin our political system – vote no to AV on May 5.
More on AV viewpoints here
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100067892/ten-reasons-to-vote-no-to-av/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11609887
