Headlines:
Voters say Noooooooooooooooooooo!! to AV
Voters say FU Nick Clegg
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/av-referendum/8499151/AV-referendum-Britain-overwhelmingly-votes-No.html
More than two thirds of people voted to keep the first-past-the-post system in what was the first UK-wide referendum for 36 years.
With the count 85 per cent complete, the No to AV campaign passed the crucial figure of 9.87million votes at 7.41pm on Friday night to secure victory.
It was a boost to David Cameron who had campaigned hard for a No vote and a blow to Nick Clegg, who had made a referendum on voting reform a condition of the Coalition deal which is this week one year old.
The Prime Minister and his deputy had sharply contrasting fortunes on "Super Thursday" as voters went to the polls in council elections, and in assembly and parliament elections in Wales and Scotland. It was the first major test of opinion since the general election.
The Liberal Democrats were severely punished. They lost almost half their councillors in town halls across the country, while the Conservatives exceeded expectations.
Excellent. Good results all round I say. :thumbup:
I voted Yes.
I also noted that the places where YES won was mostly in london. Interesting that.
Had i have not been working nights i would have voted No :P
What is AV ?
Alternative Vote. We had a referendum to decide if we should get rid of our current FPTP (first past the post) system. They were calling it the Alternative Vote because the alternative is a preferential voting system, but its confusing for people to understand and basically offers parties with less votes overall a chance to power because you vote in order of preference. Votes are reallocated in stages until one candidate emerges with more than 50% of votes, at each stage the candidate with least votes is discarded until there are only two remaining and one has the majority.
It's only the second ever UK-wide referendum we've had and it was a complete waste of time and money :thumbup:
If the Lib-Dums lost so many seats why are they still in the coalition? Can't they bugger off now and leave us with a proper govt, actually able to do stuff?
Quote from: Eagle on May 09, 2011, 00:52:06 AM
If the Lib-Dums lost so many seats why are they still in the coalition? Can't they bugger off now and leave us with a proper govt, actually able to do stuff?
Hopefully the coalition will fall apart and then there will be a call for another general election. At least I assume that's what happens if the coalition government stops functioning.