For anyone not sure about what the Alternative Vote is, the BBC has a great explanation at http://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.
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