AV -- Leo Barraclough: a personal statement



Leo Barraclough (right) with Chris Huhne
MP, and Tory candidate Maria Hutchings.

On May 5^th voters will have a chance to bring in a new system of electing their MPs, and I, personally, am in favour of it.

Last year, I stood as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh in Hampshire. I didn't have a realistic chance of winning, but in past elections Labour had got as many as 15,000 votes in the town, so the Labour vote mattered.

The seat was a marginal between the Tories and Liberals, and many Labour supporters voted Liberal to keep the Tory out. They elected Liberal Chris Huhne, and then what happened… he's now a minister in a Tory-led administration.

The AV system would have allowed those Labour supporters to vote Labour, while still keeping the Tories out. Their vote would not have been wasted, and the MP would have had the backing of the majority of the town's voters.

The same would be true in constituencies across Sussex, where far too many voters are faced with the prospect of going through the motions, without any chance of affecting the outcome. This breeds cynicism and indifference.

AV allows voters to be honest about their intentions, be engaged with the political system, and will force politicians to listen to the majority of their voters, not just the party faithful.

Best regards,

Leo Barraclough