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ERS News
With mandates thin on the ground, Clegg must seize moment.
Published: Friday, May 7th 2010
The Electoral Reform Society has commented on the latest declarations confirming that we face a hung parliament.
Dr Ken Ritchie, Chief Exec of the Society, said:
“The focus today will be on mandates, but they are thin on the ground. Our next parliament will remain unrepresentative of the people it’s meant to represent, but our next government won’t be able to hide behind a fake majority.
“Neither Labour nor Conservatives can pretend to be a national party. Thanks to a voting system that has silenced millions of voters across the country the Tories remain practically invisible across Scotland and the North East, while Labour faces extinction in the South.
“A General Election should deliver a parliament that represents the public. But what we have is a lottery where Labour can be only 5% ahead of the Lib Dems but walk away with five times as many seats.
“The Lib Dem Surge didn’t happen, but Nick Clegg, and leaders of the nationalist parties, must be clear that we can’t return to business as usual. Progress towards electoral reform must be a precondition for a coalition or support for a minority administration. Until Clegg makes progress on electoral reform, his party will continue to have little more than a walk-on part in politics.”
“Neither Labour nor Conservatives can pretend to be a national party. Thanks to a voting system that has silenced millions of voters across the country the Tories remain practically invisible across Scotland and the North East, while Labour faces extinction in the South.
“A General Election should deliver a parliament that represents the public. But what we have is a lottery where Labour can be only 5% ahead of the Lib Dems but walk away with five times as many seats.
“The Lib Dem Surge didn’t happen, but Nick Clegg, and leaders of the nationalist parties, must be clear that we can’t return to business as usual. Progress towards electoral reform must be a precondition for a coalition or support for a minority administration. Until Clegg makes progress on electoral reform, his party will continue to have little more than a walk-on part in politics.”
* The Society will be providing in depth analysis and data on the implications of the election on governance shortly.
Contacts
For more information, comment or interviews please contact Ashley Dé on 07968791684 or Dr Ken Ritchie on 07754165551
About us:
The Electoral Reform Society is campaigning to change the way we choose our politicians. We believe that a fair voting system will improve our democracy, allow politicians to better represent you the voter and help them to tackle the serious issues facing our society. Above all we believe that fairness, accountability and a real choice for voters should not be compromised.
The Mission of the Electoral Reform Society is to secure at all levels of representation an electoral system which will:
* Ensure all votes have equal value
* Give effective representation to all significant points of view within the electorate
* Allow electors to vote for their preferred candidates without fear of wasting their votes
* Ensure the accountability of individual representatives to their electorates
And that’s why the Society advocates the use of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=48 in public elections.
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