Lessons from the Past: Why Tories Oppose AV (Independent)

The Independent has published a telling article today, revealing the full horror of a potential move to the AV electoral system for the Tories—based on past voting patterns, at least....

The Conservatives would have been reduced to a rump of just 70 MPs in Labour's 1997 landslide victory if that election had been fought under the Alternative Vote (AV) system, according to research based on answers given by voters at the time.

This is one of a series of statistics produced by expert analysts which demonstrate why the Conservative Party is almost unanimously opposed to changing the voting system, though it is the Tory-led Coalition which will offer voters a chance in a referendum on 5 May to switch to electing their MPs using AV.

There has been only one general election in the past 30 years when the Conservatives might have done better under AV than under the current "first past the post" system. That was when Margaret Thatcher won her third election victory, in 1987.

An interesting analysis.... Though some of the conclusion are flawed, I believe, as voters would undoubtedly have behaved somewhat differently (as they do in Australia) had AV been in operation during the same period. Nonetheless, read the whole thing!