Guardian verdict on voting reform: “Mr Clegg spoke for progress; Mr Straw for...
The Guardian has not always been kind to the Coalition since its formation; still less to the Lib Dems. But its stinging rebuke to Labour’s “opposition for opposition’s sake” — with its attempt last...
View ArticleOpinion: the Tories should be supporting voting reform
I am not a Liberal Democrat who is going to apologise on the doorstep for the Coalition. I think it was the best situation that could have transpired. The Conservatives are not the party they were in...
View ArticleOpinion: Labour leadership voters may have favoured Balls over the Milibands
A low point in William Hague’s otherwise excellent conference speech on Sunday was his cheap shot at the Alternative Vote system and its role in the outcome of the Labour leadership election. The...
View ArticleOpinion: Chris Bryant is right, though he doesn’t know why
As I write, Chris Bryant is arguing during the Whole House committee for the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill that a method for drawing up constituency boundaries that is severely...
View ArticleOpinion: why the voters are right to be annoyed, but not at the Lib Dems
So, another week, and more policies announced that are definitely not Liberal Democrat in origin. Particularly one close to my liberal heart on the issue of paying for University education. Now that...
View ArticleElected Police Commissioners: how the elections would work
The publication this week of the Police Reform And Social Responsibility Bill provided, amongst other matters, details of how the planned elections for Police Commissioners (or, strictly speaking,...
View ArticleThe 100-plus Labour MPs publicly opposing electoral reform
Poor Ed Miliband. In his first speech to the Labour party conference he tried his valiant best to show that Labour had changed, that it was a party which could re-claim the progressive liberalism it so...
View ArticleNo2AV campaign left red-faced by list gaffes
Last week I posted to Lib Dem Voice what I thought to be an accurate list of the 100+ Labour MPs who had proudly announced they would be opposing electoral reform in the May referendum. I assumed it...
View ArticleThe Yes! to Fairer Votes campaign asks: Where does your MP stand on the...
Earlier this week, Lib Dem Voice highlighted the No2AV campaign’s embarrassing failure to check whether all the Labour MPs they said were opposed to reforming the UK’s unfair electoral system actually...
View ArticleThree cheers for Ed Miliband (shame about his party)
This evening Labour leader Ed Miliband will urge his party and the public to say yes to fairer votes in this coming May’s referendum. All of us in favour of electoral reform, and a voting system that...
View ArticleLDVideo: The People Say Yes to AV (‘No Politicians’ Edition)
The No2AV Campaign has been all too delighted to parade has-been politicians to back up its arguments — the Yes2AV Campaign has rather more wisely stuck to letting the public have its say in this first...
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Clegg: “AV is a very British reform”
In a month’s time we will know the result — will the British people have voted to modernise our electoral system? The next three and a bit weeks will see some frantic campaigning in the first national...
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Have you ‘Liked’ the Unofficial YES to AV campaign Facebook page yet?
Remember this — the unofficial Facebook Lib Dem fan group, We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!, the internet election sensation? (Still going strong with over...
View ArticleOpinion: Must the Alternative Vote benefit the Liberal Democrats?
John Curtice is a God among psephologists. He is not a man to be criticised lightly. But he left me muttering into my cornflakes when I heard him suggest on the Today Programme that we could be sure AV...
View ArticleWhy I’ll be voting Yes to AV on 5th May: it’s all about choice
I will be voting ‘Yes’ to the alternative vote in the referendum on the 5th May. Here’s why. For me, this referendum is all about choice. The ‘Yes’ campaign stands for giving voters greater choice —...
View ArticleLib Dem members say: AV referendum result irrelevant to Coalition’s future
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 530 party members have...
View ArticleNick Clegg’s irrelevance to loss of AV vote
How important was Nick Clegg to the loss of the referendum to reform the electoral system? Very important if you believe this anonymous source quoted recently in The Guardian (hat-tip to James Graham):...
View ArticleOpinion: One year on from Tuition Fees: why I’m still a Liberal Democrat
It’s one year on from the vote on Tuition Fees, so I thought I would lay out some reasons why I, as a student, am still a Liberal Democrat after our great ‘betrayal’. Although our ministers are having...
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Psst! Whatever you do, don’t tell the Tories democratic reform is in their...
A few weeks ago I wrote an article for Conservative Home offering some unsolicited advice to David Cameron’s party. I argued that a party that had achieved electoral success in the 1980s by appealing...
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LibLInk: Lord (Paul) Tyler – Just Deserts?
Over at Lords of the Blogs, Lib Dem peer Paul Tyler gives short shrift to the complaints of his parliamentary colleagues complaining that the red benches cannot accommodate the 22 new peers appointed...
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