What a squeak after the loud roar of the Labour Party’s manifesto in 1997 to hold a referendum on electoral reform! The media releases about Gordon Brown’s manifesto pledge in his speech on 29 September for a referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) if Labour wins the next General Election say it all (see Vote For A Change below). Definitely not PR – for Parties or, as we prefer, for People - but perhaps a step in the right direction. After all, there are two basic principles in STV, the first being preferential voting on which AV is based, and the second, multi-member seats without which there cannot be PR of any kind.

Nevertheless real progress of a kind there has been, albeit not promising much at the moment. This is the first time in recent memory that a Prime Minister has declared that First Past The Post has deficiencies and that the voting system might have to be changed.

Some cynics, though, have even suggested that the split into two at the fringe meeting was exactly what Brown intended - to kill off within Labour's post-reform ranks any chance of the kind of real change the country needs: a split between the pragmatists (who think a referendum on AV might begin a process that would lead to PR), and the true believers (who reckon it would kill the chances of meaningful reform for a generation).

We fervently believe that STV is the best voting system for all public elections - and in many other elections too. Even so, if it is not possible to persuade Parliament to move from single member constituencies to multi-member ones, then AV is a better system that FPTP as it can more easily be converted to STV later than any of the other systems being proposed.

As Which? would say, “not our Best Buy, but worth considering”!

If you would like to know more about AV, I recommend you to visit http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=55 for the Electoral

Reform Society’s explanation.

If Brown is really serious about reform (unlike Blair in 1997), he will introduce legislation before the general election for a referendum and challenge the Opposition to repeal it if they win the election.

Vote For A Change Media release:

“Gordon Brown today said that we faced the biggest choices of a generation. With his manifesto pledge of a referendum on the Alternative Vote he’s offered one of the smallest.

After all we’ve seen of the Westminster Gravy train what our politics required was a giant leap. But what Brown said today isn’t even a small step. This is just another empty promise to take that step. Labour promised a referendum in 1997, they didn’t deliver. There is little reason to view this as anything more than another worthless manifesto commitment from a party that may be heading for defeat anyway. Sunshine, lollypops and rainbows may as well be in that manifesto. It amounts to the same thing. A lack of action, and a lack of nerve from a Prime Minister unwilling to embrace real reform.

We are pleased to have won this commitment from the Prime Minister. But if you are committed to the principle of a referendum on the system then you should be principled enough to deliver it when it’s with in your power to do so.

People do well to judge politicians on their actions not their words. Today Brown's speech demonstrated he’s not serious about reform. He has time between now and the Queen’s Speech to build up from amounts to a promise to do nothing.”