Mud-slinging put people off AV vote

The truth is the masses were never really engaged in this debate and when it looked like a low turnout might be in the YES camp’s favour, the Tory donor millions piled into the NO campaign to fund their negative scaremongering.

Ultimately the key to winning a referendum is to ask the right question at the right time and to many it seemed quite indulgent to be discussing voting systems at a time of great economic hardship.

In the end the myths and inaccuracies peddled by the NO campaign had their desired effect and many were turned off by the political mud-slinging.

For others, although AV was a small step in the right direction, it wasn’t the proportional system they really want.

With tragic irony, we saw Labour activists share platforms with Conservatives to defeat a voting system that is in their manifesto...well done Labour, you have effectively buried AV forever!

Quite understandably voting reform will be off the mainstream agenda for some time to come, but it will return as ‘First Past The Post’ continues to deliver more and more unfair election results.

Those of us in the ‘Fairer Votes’ campaign will be ready for that day and next time there will be no ‘miserable little compromises’, the choice will be Proportional Representation, where 30 per cent of the votes will deliver 30 per cent of the seats, where every vote is counted fairly.

Clive Bishop

Asten Fields, Battle