As we look towards the new year, we know for certain that there will be a general election. I hope that the election will be the last one fought under the First Past the Post system. That is why I am a sponsor of an amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill that would oblige the incoming government to hold a referendum on electoral reform in the first six months of the new Parliament.

In only one of my three election victories in High Peak have I won the support of 50% of those who voted. That is typical of most MPs where the majority is not a foregone conclusion. Doing better than your opponents is not enough any more, I believe.

Under the Alternative Vote (AV) system, every MP has the support – at least, the conditional support – of over half of those who vote. It means that people can vote with both their head and their heart, instead of having to choose. And that all important constituency link – holding one MP accountable to the voters of a distinct and manageable area like High Peak – is retained.

Under the AV system, instead of voting with an ‘x’ you express a preference: 1, 2. 3 etc. The 1s are counted as though they were Xs (as are any Xs that creep in). If no one gets 50% of the vote, the bottom of the poll drops out and their second preferences are added to the piles of 1s. This keeps happening until someone gets 50%+1 votes.
In this way every vote counts and no vote is wasted.

One advantage of this simple system is that it represents the minimum of change. We also avoid the lack of connection with communities that people clearly feel with their Euro MEPs.

If we change nothing else in our constitution in 2010, let AV be this Parliament’s legacy.