Launch of Labour Yes to Fairer Votes
Today, Labour Yes is launching the campaign to secure a yes vote in the 2011 Referendum on electoral reform. This is our opportunity to work together to change the electoral system and ensure fairer votes for all.
All shades and all ages of Labour are uniting behind the call to change our electoral system by saying yes to AV and defeating David Cameron. Senior Labour influencers from Peter Mandelson to Tony Benn, have joined together with Labour party organisations including Compass and Progress to support a letter to the Guardian today in which they write:
“The Tories don’t want fairer votes, they don’t want change. They say No! Labour is the party of fairness and change. Labour says Yes.”
Shadow Cabinet Ministers including Alan Johnson, Douglas Alexander, John Denham, Hilary Benn, Liam Byrne, Sadiq Khan, Tessa Jowell and Peter Hain, have also signed the letter as well as a number of ‘next generation’ Labour MPs including Chuka Umunna, Gloria de Piero, Liz Kendall, Alison McGovern and Anas Sarwar.
The letter further states:
“Labour is the party of equality. Next year we have the opportunity to vote for a fairer voting system.
One in which everyone’s vote counts and every MP is required to get the backing of a majority of voters.
It means that every Labour Party member and supporter, in every seat in the country, can cast their vote for Labour and then mark any other preferences knowing their vote won’t be wasted.”
Ben Bradshaw MP former Culture Secretary and official spokesperson for the campaign said:
“We have a historic chance to reform our unfair and out of date voting system. Voting yes would lead to a small change that makes a big difference.
AV gives more power to the people, freeing them from the pressure to vote tactically and ensuring every vote counts.
It would also mean MPs and candidates having to work harder to win the support of at least half their voters.”
The Labour Party was committed to holding a Referendum on the Alternative Vote in its manifesto in 2010. As yet, the Party has no official position on whether it will campaign for a Yes or No vote in next year’s Referendum. In the Labour leadership contest, Ed Miliband committed himself to campaigning for a Yes vote in the AV Referendum saying:
“I’m in favour of the AV voting system for the House of Commons and will campaign in favour of AV in the referendum. I believe that changing our electoral system so that every MP has the support of more than half of their constituents is one way in which we can begin to restore trust in politics.”[i]
[i] http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ed-miliband/labour-leadership-candidates-on-future-of-britain-ed-miliband
