Nearly a Revolution

Electoral reform, whose obituary was already half-written, appears to be rising Lazarus-like from the dead. On Monday, there was a meeting of the traditionally hidebound, Democratic Renewal Council. This Cabinet Committee contains nearly all senior Secretaries of State and is usually chaired by the PM but it was only Justice Secretary Jack Straw who was giving lobby briefings yesterday.

Wor Jack appears to be another recent convert to the cause of electoral reform, like so many turkeys who can smell the chestnut stuffing. It now looks like the movement for some degree of reform has reached a critical mass in cabinet, too much for even Gordy to resist.

The mechanics of its introduction will go like this; it will require initial approval by cabinet on Thursday then the laying a Government amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill to be heard by the House in January. It will be paving legislaion for the next Government to pick up.

The whole Bill has yet to receive its second reading so those House managers will have to allow plenty of debate time. It will certainly put the Tories on the back foot and it will be amusing to see Dominic Grieve give his lawyer’s view, devoid of any sense of political justice.

But we shouldn’t get overly excited just yet, Straw has only stretched beyond his obstinacy to allow the Alternative Vote (AV). This system is currently used in London Mayoral elections where second and third preference votes are added until a candidate reaches 50%. The advantages are that it preserves the link between constituency and MP, by cannot be said to be proportional. It is in effect First-Past-The-Post lite. The Lib-Dems feel it is hardly worth the bother and I, for one, can see their point.