There may be some not quite sure why the Liberal Democrats threw their hats in the ring with the Conservatives in the first place considering the fallout that they’ve received in by-elections, media and general opinion, but in the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum 2011 that took place on Thursday 5th May you have one of the biggest explanations. Essentially, if the Liberal Democrats could have made the Alternative Vote system stick they could have put the UK in a position to be a three party race for political leadership, as opposed to the current 2 party race that the first past the post system has historically favoured.
For anyone not sure about what the Alternative Vote is, the BBC has a great explanation at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12892836. What it ultimately means is that if a candidate doesn’t receive more than 50% of the votes, secondary choices are taken into account, so if a person chooses a candidate other than the top two, their second choice could potentially count to the ultimate decision. Whereas at the moment, if your candidate isn’t one of the top two choices your vote could be viewed as being wasted.
What this ultimately means is that politicians could be forced to look more broadly in terms of who their policies are aimed at. Instead of just pleasing their own party followers, it could be argued that they will be forced to look at pleasing more of the people more of the time. However, those against the AV system propose that it would be too complex and muddy the political water, but then there will be those that say it probably needs a good shake up.
However, the Liberal Democrats didn’t get the referendum to fall in their favour, so maybe their decision with regards to their arrangement with the Conservative Party will be judged harshly. As the AV campaign fell flat it has added weight to the suggestion that the arrangement are lacking in terms of clear results. The fact that Labour leader Ed Miliband was in favour of a yes vote for the Alternative Vote referendum, but that the overall Labour Party was split on the referendum would seem to be one of the main reasons for the significant vote against an AV system in the UK.
