Along with a few local politicians to decide on, it's time to decide whether to AV or not to AV. Now, the first-past-the-post system is simple - the one with the most votes wins. This has been seen to be unfair because you only need 1 vote more than the nearest opposition to win, leaving nearly as many voters as the winner attracted represented by someone they didn't want. In my mind, though, worse than this is that an MP can win with 40% of 40% of those able to vote - a representative can decide what is best for you with 16% of the population voting for them. AV doesn't solve either of these. Anyone getting 50% of votes cast will win automatically even before all the second less worst candidate votes are considered. We'd be better off with compulsion of the present voting system, where 40% of votes cast means 40% of the electorate voted for them. AV gives us the likelihood of hung-parliaments and associated coalitions, look how well that has worked for Nick Clegg.
Not since Gary Glitter went from housewife's favourite to convicted paedophile has someone's popularity dropped so quickly. Confused about AV? The ever so happy, never grumpy, Lord Reid tried to explain his opposition to the Alternative Vote with the aid of branded chocolate bars on Radio 4's 'Today' programme. AV, he suggested, was like going to the corner store and buying a Mars Bar, taking a bite out of it and then asking the shop keeper to exchange it for a Twix and then taking a chunk out of that, he didn't say whether you chew on one or two fingers, and then return that confection; that's cleared it up in my mind. Now, introduce Marianne Faithfull into the equation and people might get interested in a Mars munching audio visual on AV.
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