THE “Yes” and “No” campaigns on the proposed change to the system of voting have got under way in Warrington.
Andrew Stunnell, a junior minister at the Department of Communities and Local Government arrived in town to visit the Liberal Democrat headquarters in Rylands Street, which is also being used by the local “Yes to AV” campaign.
He was joined by local Lib Dem councillors, candidates and other activists and later when on a tour of the town, visiting various places including the Omega development site.
A meeting organised by the “Yes” campaign is being held at Bold Street Methodist Church at 6.30pm tonight when the speakers will include Cllr Ian Marks, leader of the borough council, Liverpool City Council member Liam Robinson and John Ault, North West director of the “Yes to Fairer Votes” campaign.
The meeting will be chaired by Nick Bent, who was Labour’s candidate in South Warrington at the General Election.
Meanwhile, Cllr Mike Hannon, deputy leader of the Labour group on the borough council and Chris Vobe, Labour candidate in the Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft area, in the borough council elections, are encouraging voters to cast a “No” vote in the referendum on AV which will be held on May 5 – same day as the council elections.
Cllr Hannon said: “There are only three countries in the world that use the AV system – Fiji, Papa New Guinea and Australia.
“Australia had to introduce compulsory voting after AV was introduced because turnout became so low. A recent poll showed that the majority of Australians want to go back to the First Past the Post system.
“The fact is that AV would be a complex and unequal voting system which is simply a mistake. The ‘Yes’ campaign want us to believe that it is fairer – but I believe there is a very simple principle in politics and government: whoever gets the most votes wins. Why should we change that?”
Mr Vobe added: “What Mike and I both firmly believe is that AV will destroy the mantle of ‘One person, one vote’. Those who vote for fringe parties like the BNP could end up having two or three votes counted. Those same voters could potentially decide the outcome of an election.”
THE "Yes" and "No" campaigns on the proposed change to the system of voting have got under way in Warrington.
Yes or No to new voting system?
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
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I was brought up on the concept of one person one vote. This has served us well for many years and should not be replaced by an over complicated system that means we will have weak coallition government at all levels for the forseeable future. I shall be voting “No”.
I find my self agreeing with Mr Vobe, I hope it is for the last time.
Its a no from me
It’s definately a NO from me. I only hope that the electorate realise the cosequences of not getting out to vote NO will mean. So far local MP’s have been very subdued on the subject.
The Census participation is enforced by rule of law I think that voting in parliamentary elections / referendums should be as well.
The three countries mentioned in the article Fiji is a military dictatorship and its current prime minister refuses to hold elections, Papua New Guinea has a limited proportional voting system whereby you only rank the first three candidates, and Australia is interesting in so much that AV has had no effect on the outcome of a general election for decades as by and large it is a two party system so transferring votes does not take place. There is no mood in Australia to change the voting system which they’ve had for nearly a century. The referendum in the UK has failed to capture the imagination, and turnout will be low, maybe as low as 40% overall.
politicians are all a set of lying thieving scumbags, it’s time for change.