| 8/5/2011 Well, on Thursday the referendum on a our voting system took place. That was the reason I made sure I came home this week. Now despite worries, some holes in the pro-AV argument and other elements that no one could apparently explain when either defending or criticising the AV system, I voted for AV like I had decided to last summer. I suppose it's partly because I knew AV would lose that I confidently voted for it. I knew AV would lose so I wasn't disappointed when the announcement came late on Friday (what did surprise me was the high proportion of 'No' votes: over 70%? Really?). But what would I have expected if the system had changed? What I had hoped was that AV could introduce some randomness to national elections. A lot of the time, when a national election comes round, you can predict which party will get the majority. In the last election only 20 seats promised to be game-changers. I'd prefer it to be more, but unless the general apathy of the populace begins to lift, it's unlikely to happen. On the other hand, the stunning results of the Scottish Parliament Elections is definitely what I'd like to see more often, although in that case, it was possible through the fact that the system they use is Proportional Representation, which is what the Liberal Democrats had originally desired in the first place. So, what now? Well, I'm honestly surprised that people are looking at the referendum result as an attack against the Lib Dems as a result of their U-turn in certain policies like the Tuition Fee increase and cuts in police and military budget. I'm not saying the journalists are wrong to suggest this, because the numbers seem pretty evident of such a claim, but I don't understand why people who feel betrayed in one policy area feel they have to be negative towards said party on every policy from that point on. I'm honestly fed up of those people who think good politicians are those who do and say every single thing that one/that group of constituent(s) demands. Want more money in benefits, do you? Well why don't you figure out where to get said money? Government's right now losing more money than receiving. |