Liberal Democrats at grassroots level across the country had been suffering since our landslide defeat in local elections and the defeat of the Alternative Vote referendum in May 2011. This has led, I believe, to a reduction in political engagement across the party at a local and national level. That is why the autumn conference

We all remember the supposed concern the NO 2 AV campaign had for the British taxpayer. You’ll remember – who could forget? – their claim that the Alternative Vote would cost £250m, and that this’ll kill babies and soldiers. You might also remember David Blunkett’s polling-day admission that that was all nonsense, but, hey, all’s

Now UK electoral reform for the Commons has been defeated, First Past the Post (FPTP) is with us for the foreseeable future. I was never convinced that Alternative Vote (AV) would be a game changer for smaller parties like the Greens, but FPTP is particularly bad for them. There’s no doubt that FPTP exaggerates results. Below a certain share of the national vote, parties get fewer seats than...

If AV is a controversial step, what about tackling non-participation? The last four UK General Elections have also been the lowest in terms of turnout since World War II, according to this site: Statistically, there appears to be only a slight negative correlation between the size of turnout and the size of the winner's majority, as witness the 2010 results: ... but the British system is full...

It looks as though the Alternative Vote will be given a resounding raspberry. A shame, because we may soon see radical policies in Scotland on the "mandate" of a majority party that has won overt support from less than 25% of eligible voters. Here, thanks to The Guardian's Datablog, are the results of the Scottish Assembly Elections, expressed as a percentage of the electorate, 49.64% of whom...

In some ways the tactical mistakes of the Lib Dems, having decided to go into Coalition, could be put down to experience - the lack of it. The Lib Dem pitch, even before Lib Dems existed, was an alternative. An alternative to what ? Their answer has been "what have you got?" ( with apologies to James Dean ). This tactic has been part of their strategy of building up support from opposition. The pr...

  Well, the people have spoken, and they have said a resounding NO! The British people in their wisdom have decided to keep the fair system of one person, one vote, rejecting the ridiculous Alternative Vote system. 69% voted no to the unfair system, and with this no brings, thankfully, an end to the debate on

Not made up your mind yet about Thursday’s referendum? I’m voting YES! to the Alternative Vote. It’s the best choice on the ballot paper for many reasons – but, as it’s all about letting voters have more power by picking candidates in order of preference, here’s my first choice in favour of AV. Not the only one, but, for me, the best. Two thirds of all MPs today...

Want to know my second-best reason to say YES! to the Alternative Vote on Thursday? My first’s to stop two thirds of MPs being elected – as they were last year – even though they were losers for most of their voters, with most people voting against them. My second choice reason’s pretty strong, too. Remember all those MPs caught milking our money a couple of years ago? Voti...

Time for my third-best reason to vote YES! to the Alternative Vote on Thursday: 1st to get MPs supported instead of opposed by the majority; 2nd to boost your power to throw out crooks; and 3rd, to give everyone more choice with a small but powerful change. So if you want a big change eventually, this is a significant step in that direction; if you’re not entirely sure about change, it&rsquo...