Yes or no

[altariel]

OK, f'listers, let rip. In 100 words or less, and without reference to the other case, tell me why I should vote either 'yes' or 'no' to the following question:

"Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?"

Non-UK perspectives welcome.

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

A yes, certainly. AV is not as good as a properly proportional system (I'd prefer a form of constituency-based STV as in the Republic of Ireland) but it should remove some of the distortions of FPTP. A successful move to AV would open the door to further reform a little way down the line, and also better reflect the country's real mood - which was probably not, for example, to deliver Thatcher landslides in 1983 and 1987, or Labour ones in 1997 and 2001.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, from what data I've been able to find (a study by John Curtice of second preferences expressed on the British Election Study), AV would most likely have inflated the majorities in 1983 and 1997. The main finding was an increase in Alliance/Lib Dem seats, but only in the 1983 election would the Alliance have been within spitting distance of Labour. AV seems to keep the two-party system intact, but make a number of less marginal seats more marginal.