On May 5, all Labour supporters will be trying to win as many seats as possible in the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales and on English local councils. The referendum on the alternative vote on the same day is also a crucial political choice.
Labour does not have a settled view on AV – party members are supporters and opponents of change. AV supporters tend to fall into two groups: those who have traditionally supported a more proportional system and those who advocate AV as the best system.
Most “no” campaigners reject all forms of reform, clinging to the hope that the old two-party system, where elections are fought solely between Labour and the Tories, will one day return. This is despite all the evidence that the electorate is becoming more diverse and pluralistic in its choices. But there are some “no” campaigners who reject AV as a reform too little. These reformers should think again.
Like all first past the post elections, the referendum allows us a choice between two: incumbent and leading challenger – FPTP and AV. Nothing else is on the ballot paper.
There is no option to vote for a third, more proportional system.
Most Labour supporters of PR have thrown themselves into the fight for AV and have principled reasons for thinking it is an improvement. We recognise this is almost certainly a once in a generation chance for reform: lose this one and it is unlikely that the unusual circumstances which put AV on the agenda will re-occur, or that anyone will risk political capital raising it for a long time.
Only AV is on the agenda because, in reality, only a small minority of Labour MPs support a fully proportional system.
Many Labour reformers want to retain the clear and simple constituency system provided by AV. But this does not mean that this change is not worth having. Far from it – AV is a significant change which will advance progressive politics in Britain.
AV would allow Labour supporters to vote for the party in places where we put up little fight because all our efforts and policies are concentrated on marginals. It would make it worth voting where Labour is in third place and it would stop inaccurate Liberal Democrat bar charts persuading voters that the way to ditch the Tories is to vote tactically. It would be very odd not to allow Labour voters the same chance to express preferences that our members enjoy in our internal elections.
AV would encourage a new political culture. To connect with the electorate as a whole and win over second and third preference votes from supporters of other parties, candidates would need to reach out beyond their comfort zone. Candidates would be rewarded for engaging in local debates rather than opposing other parties. It will become transparent where Lib Dems have been appealing to Labour voters in the south and rural constituencies. With honest voting under AV, they would find it difficult to justify their involvement in the current Tory-led coalition.
Where Labour is against Lib Dems in urban areas, we fight them in elections. Under FPTP, the “enemy” locally is not necessarily the party we need to fight to win a majority in the House of Commons. Where Lib Dems or the SNP are the local opponents, we still need to remember that the choice for government is between Labour and the Tories. New Labour MPs Willie Bain, Paul Blomfield, Gloria de Piero and Chuka Umunna understand this and have signed up to the Labour Yes!
The battle we face is against the Tories. Those who want to kick Nick Clegg need to think again and use the referendum to kick David Cameron and George Osborne. The real opponents of change and the beneficiaries of FPTP are the Tories and their allies in the Taxpayers Alliance who will throw everything they have at Labour Yes! – hoardings, newspaper adverts, lies about counting machines and costs.
The other party supporting NO2AV is the British National Party, which thrives on FPTP, low turnout and protest voting. In local elections, in places where Labour has taken people for granted or given up campaigning because we never win, abstention and protest voting have been encouraged by FPTP. Under AV, the BNP would find it impossible to get transfers to build the necessary support to win elections.
Let’s turn to the principled PR supporters who would rather have the status quo than move to a slight upgrade that can be combined with PR for the revised Upper House. For years, many of us have fought together as electoral reformers. We have never won over the Labour conference or most trade unions to electoral reform, let alone PR except for the devolved assemblies.
However, if we stop this clever NO2AV attempt to divide and rule, there is a Labour majority for electoral reform and against the status quo. Then whether or not we prefer a PR system is no longer the question.
We face a reduction of seats and consequent boundary changes which may lose Labour 30 seats, deliberately aimed to reduce our chance of returning to power. AV will help Labour in seats where the anti-Tory vote is split or prevent Tories being elected.
Launching Labour Yes!, Ed Miliband said: “Yes to change. Yes to a challenge to the status quo. Yes to a system where more voices are heard and more votes are counted. Yes to AV.” I ask you to consider this before you cast your vote on May 5.
John Denham is the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, chair of the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform and a member of the Labour Yes! steering committee
