FPTP needs replacing
NO sooner was Alternative Voting resoundingly rejected, than the local election results showed why First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) needs replacing. It highlighted that the NO campaign had won the referendum by scaremongering about AV, not by proving the case for FPTP. Looking at the results for Rother District Council makes for interesting reading, the Conservatives got 53 per cent of the vote and 71 per cent of seats, the Lib-Dems 21 per cent vote / 13 per cent seats and Labour 16 per cent vote / five per cent seats.
Those opposed to voting reform make much of the virtue “one person one vote” – well in Rother if you voted Conservative the weight of your vote counted for much more than one (1.34 to be precise). In stark contrast, if you voted Lib-Dem or Labour your cross on the ballot counted for considerably less than one vote (0.64 and 0.33 respectively)... now that’s just not fair or democratic.
Quite rightly AV is now off the reform agenda, but there is still clearly a democratic case for a more proportional voting system.
CLIVE BISHOP
Asten Fields
Battle