Parliamentary voting system and constituencies act

Status of the bill: Enacted

Main purpose of the bill:

"To make provision for a referendum on the voting system for parliamentary elections and to provide for parliamentary elections to be held under the alternative vote system if a majority of those voting in the referendum are in favour of that; to make provision about the number and size of parliamentary constituencies; and for connected purposes."

Main points of the bill:

Provides for a referendum to be held on 5th May 2011 on whether to change the voting system for parliamentary elections. The question on the ballot paper will read: " Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the "alternative vote" system instead of the current "first past the post" system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?"

Reduces the number of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom from 650 to 600.

Requires the Boundary Commissions to recommend constituency boundaries that ensure the electorate of each constituency is no less than 95 per cent and no more than 105 per cent of the UK electoral quota.

Requires the Boundary Commissions to carry out reviews of constituencies and submit reports before 1st October 2013 and every five years thereafter.

*Controversy

*A change to the voting system has long been campaigned for in the UK, with many arguing that the current First Past The Post (FPTP) system is unfair and undemocratic. According to the Electoral Reform Society, the majority of MPs now sitting in the House of Commons only have the support of a minority of their constituents.

Research from the Society shows that the 2010 election produced MPs "with the weakest mandates in political history". Only 216 MPs, representing 33.23 per cent of parliament, achieved over 50 per cent of the vote; 434 MPs, representing 66.77 per cent of parliament, achieved less than 50 per cent of the vote. ERS spokesman Ashley De said "This is an historic low. It makes a mockery of the constituency link and has left us with a barely legitimate parliament."

Most campaigners for change, including the ERS and the Liberal Democrats, have said they would prefer to see the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system adopted as they believe this gives voters more choice than any other system. However, they support the proposed change to the Alternative Vote (AV) system seeing this as at least a step in the right direction.

The Conservatives have traditionally opposed a move away from FPTP, believing a change to any of the proposed alternative systems would benefit Labour and the Liberal Democrats, leaving their party at a disadvantage.

The Labour Party, however, included a proposal for moving to AV in its 2010 election manifesto. Furthermore, former justice secretary, Jack Straw, added a clause to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill allowing for a referendum to be held, no later than 31st October 2011, on the AV voting system. This clause was opposed by the Conservatives and subsequently removed from the bill during wash-up.

Then in a complete reversal of policies, the Conservatives, as part of the deal to secure a coalition government, announced a referendum on the voting system would be held and Jack Straw and the rest of the Shadow Cabinet, said they would now vote against the proposal.

According to Mr Straw, his party would vote in favour of an AV referendum, but not when combined with proposals for boundary changes and a smaller House of Commons. "What the coalition's come up with is I'm afraid a trick," he said. "What they have done is added to this bill their very, very partisan proposals - effectively for gerrymandering boundaries."

Prime Minister David Cameron, in response, accused Labour of "a descent into complete and utter opportunism" and of "backtracking" on their manifesto commitment to hold a referendum. He added that he was "very confident that we'll hold the referendum."

A further area of controversy was the proposal to hold the AV referendum on the same day as elections for the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and some local authority elections in England.

An Early Day Motion signed by more than 40 Conservative MPs called for the referendum to be held on a separate date, suggesting that the proposed timing would "allow other issues to cloud the referendum debate before the vote, artificially inflate turnout in some parts of the country but not others, and...may accordingly advantage one campaign at the expense of the other."

But the Electoral Reform Society dismissed the EDM as an attempt by "the Old Guard" to derail the referendum. Spokesman Ashley De said: "The mischief makers are now out in force. This EDM is frankly sabotage dressed up with a few principles...The future of our voting system should rest in the hands of voters next May."

The Deputy Prime Minister also rejected the criticisms saying: "It seems to me that instead of asking people to constantly go back to polling booths to cast separate votes, it is perfectly right to invite them to have their say on a simple yes/no issue on the same day at, by the way, a lower cost to the Exchequer - it will save about £17 million."

Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission, said it was possible to successfully deliver the different polls on 5th May provided the risks were properly managed. " We've set out what we think these risks are and will make it clear during the passage of the bill if we do not feel they have been adequately addressed," she said.

Progress of the bill

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was published by the government on 22nd July 2010.

Commons:
First Reading: 22.07.10 Second Reading: 06.09.10 Committee Stage: 12.10.10 18.10.10 19.10.10 20.10.10 25.10.10 Report Stage: 01.11.10 02.11.10 Third Reading: 02.11.10

Lords:
First Reading: 03.11.10 Second Reading: 15.11.10 16.11.10 Committee Stage: 30.11.10 06.12.10 08.12.10 13.12.10 15.12.10 20.12.10 10.01.11 12.01.11 17.01.11 18.01.11 19.01.11 24.01.11 25.01.11 26.01.11 31.01.11 01.02.11 02.02.11 Report Stage: 07.02.11 08.02.11 09.02.11 Third Reading: 14.02.11

Ping Pong: 15.02.11 16.02.11 Royal Assent: 16.02.11