Gordon Brown slated over vote reform plans

Published on Tuesday 2 February 2010 21:57

GORDON Brown was accused of playing pre-election political games last night as he unveiled plans for a complete overhaul of Britain's electoral system just a few weeks before the general election.

• The Prime Minister unveiled his plans to overhaul Britain's electoral system in a speech yesterday. Picture: PA

The Prime Minister said he wanted to hold a referendum next year on whether MPs should be elected through an "Alternative Vote" system, whereby candidates would be ranked by voters.

In short, he is calling for a parliamentary vote to decide on a referendum vote, which will then decide on a voting system at a general election.

Downing Street insisted yesterday it could push through the reform before the election, but Labour sources were conceding last night that Mr Brown's moves were designed primarily to "out-flank" the Conservatives on electoral reform ahead of the campaign.

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Meanwhile, Lib Dem MPs – who have long campaigned for electoral reform – said they were minded to vote against Mr Brown's reforms, arguing that they did not want "fake change".

Under Mr Brown's plans, the First Past the Post system would be scrapped and instead of picking one candidate, voters would indicate their preferences for each one.

If no candidate gets more than half of the votes cast, those preferences are then counted until a winner emerges. Backers say the system discourages people from voting tactically, and means that all MPs are elected with a genuine mandate.

However, the system falls short of reforms backed by the Lib Dems and the SNP, who want to introduce a fully proportional system, similar to that used in Scotland's local government elections.

Mr Brown unveiled his plans yesterday in a speech in which he called for a "new politics", designed to restore public trust in Westminster in the wake of last year's expenses scandal.

Other reforms in the speech included a draft bill to create a democratically accountable House of Lords and parliamentary reforms giving MPs more power. In a nod to the Scottish Parliament, he said he wanted to introduce a public petition system similar to that pioneered by Holyrood.

Mr Brown's plans for voting reform may themselves be voted on next week but some on the Labour benches said last night that they would be "holding their noses" in support of him. "This is all about outflanking the Tories and showing that they are stuck in the mud when it comes to cleaning up politics," said one Labour source.

The moves may also have been designed with the Lib Dems in mind, amid growing speculation that a hung parliament could hand them the position of kingmaker after the election.

However, one senior Scottish Lib Dem MP said Mr Brown's reforms were not enough to persuade his party to back them.

Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem MP for Orkney and the Shetlands said: "I wouldn't want to touch it myself. I will be arguing that this system isn't proportional. This is fake change, not real change."

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