Alternative Vote Top-up
Encyclopedia
The Alternative Vote Plus (AV+), or Alternative Vote Top-up, is a semi-proportional
voting system
. AV+ was invented by the 1998 Jenkins Commission
which first proposed the idea as a system that could be used for elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.
As the name suggests, AV+ is an additional member system
which works in two parts: the 'AV' part and the 'plus' part. As in the Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting
system, candidates are ranked numerically in order of preference. The important difference is that an additional group of members would be elected through the regional party lists
system to ensure proportionality; in typical proposals, these members are 15–20% of the whole body. More specifically, each voter would get a second vote to elect a county or regional-level representative from a list of candidates of more than one person per party. The number of votes cast in this vote would decide how many representatives from that county or region would go on to parliament.
To date, the system has not been implemented in Britain or anywhere else in the world.
From AV and STV (Single Transferable Vote
) supporters:
However, leading figures in the Cabinet at the time (e.g. Home Secretary Jack Straw
, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
, Chancellor Gordon Brown
and Margaret Beckett
) and the Labour NEC, all strongly opposed reform of the voting system, and blocked the chance of change at that time.
The report was welcomed by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, although at the time the Liberal Democrats remained largely committed to STV, but preferred AV+ to First Past the Post.
The report was heavily criticised by the Conservative party, with leader William Hague
branding its proposals "a dog's breakfast".
In a May 2009 article in The Times
, Health Secretary Alan Johnson
called for a referendum on the adoption of this system as part of the response to the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal. In this piece he praised the system as "an elegant solution". David Cameron
, Leader of the Conservative Party
, declared on May 26 that his party does not support the AV+ system, or any other form of proportional representation
, as it would create "weak governments".
In June 2009, it was reported by the BBC
that the Prime Minister
, Gordon Brown
, was considering changing the electoral system as part of a package of constitutional reform. In February 2010, the Labour government under Gordon Brown offered a Commons vote on a referendum for an alternative vote system, possibly manoeuvering for political positioning in case of a hung parliament
following the general election on May 6. In a BBC interview on Election Night 2010, Home Secretary Alan Johnson suggested he would like to see the AV+ system introduced if a deal with the Liberal Democrats became necessary.
Currently, the position of the Coalition government
between Conservative and Liberal Democrat is that there will be a referendum
on the Alternative Vote system, but not AV+. The Jenkins Commission rejected plain AV on the basis that it did little to relieve disproportionality, but favoured it over first-past-the-post as the basis for AV+.
The UK referendum was held on May 5, 2011 and overwhelmingly rejected the proposed AV voting system in favour of retaining First Past the Post.
Semi-proportional representation
A Semi-proportional voting system is a multi-winner voting system whose proportionality lies between that of majoritarian systems like bloc voting and fully proportional methods like the Sainte-Laguë method or STV....
voting system
Voting system
A voting system or electoral system is a method by which voters make a choice between options, often in an election or on a policy referendum....
. AV+ was invented by the 1998 Jenkins Commission
Jenkins Commission (UK)
The Independent Commission on the Voting System, popularly known as the Jenkins Commission after its chairman Roy Jenkins, was a commission into possible reform of the United Kingdom electoral system.-The commission:...
which first proposed the idea as a system that could be used for elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
As the name suggests, AV+ is an additional member system
Additional Member System
The Additional Member System is the term used in the United Kingdom for the mixed member proportional representation voting system used in Scotland, Wales and the London Assembly....
which works in two parts: the 'AV' part and the 'plus' part. As in the Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
system, candidates are ranked numerically in order of preference. The important difference is that an additional group of members would be elected through the regional party lists
Party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
system to ensure proportionality; in typical proposals, these members are 15–20% of the whole body. More specifically, each voter would get a second vote to elect a county or regional-level representative from a list of candidates of more than one person per party. The number of votes cast in this vote would decide how many representatives from that county or region would go on to parliament.
To date, the system has not been implemented in Britain or anywhere else in the world.
Advantages
- Would require relatively minor modifications to existing system, and maintain single-member constituencies.
- Would lead to a more proportional result than FPTP or AV, but would still give a built-in advantage to the largest party and allow one-party rule during landslide years.
- Would lessen the problems of 'split voting' and the necessity of tactical votingTactical votingIn voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
. - Coalition governments, which include the opinions of multiple movements of the people, are more likely.
- Decreases the chances of 'safe seats' and MPs holding seats for life.
- MPs will have to secure 50% of votes to win a constituency seat - making them more accountable and working harder to win over a more broad appeal.
- Limits the chances for extremists to gain power scraping in with minority support. AV+ shuts down the ability for candidates to slip in with just a minority of the votes.
Criticisms
From FPTP supporters:- It is more complex than FPTP for voters
- It is likely to lead to coalition government
- It will lead to "two types of MP", as a majority would be linked directly to a constituency with a minority with a larger area overlapping the first group
- It weakens the psychological link between voters and their representatives
From AV and STV (Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
) supporters:
- It is not proportional enough
- It is too likely to lead to one-party government
- It will lead to "two types of MP"
- The constituencies will still not be able to respect "natural boundaries" (although the top-up regions will)
- It will not eliminate "safe seats"
- The top-up vote aspect is too complex and either a simple AV system would be better or STV/AMS.
Reaction in the UK
Then Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a statement, saying that the report "makes a well-argued and powerful case for the system it recommends" and that "it is very much a modification of the existing Westminster system, rather than any full blown PR system as practised in other countries." He also praised Lord Jenkins for his work and gave the recommendations a cautious welcome, pointing out in particular that change would help address the "complete absence of Conservative representation in Scotland", a reference to the then most recent election in which the Conservatives failed to win a single seat in Scotland, despite winning 17.5% of the Scottish vote.However, leading figures in the Cabinet at the time (e.g. Home Secretary Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, Chancellor Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
and Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death...
) and the Labour NEC, all strongly opposed reform of the voting system, and blocked the chance of change at that time.
The report was welcomed by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, although at the time the Liberal Democrats remained largely committed to STV, but preferred AV+ to First Past the Post.
The report was heavily criticised by the Conservative party, with leader William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
branding its proposals "a dog's breakfast".
In a May 2009 article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Health Secretary Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson
Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...
called for a referendum on the adoption of this system as part of the response to the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal. In this piece he praised the system as "an elegant solution". David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, Leader of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, declared on May 26 that his party does not support the AV+ system, or any other form of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
, as it would create "weak governments".
In June 2009, it was reported by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
that the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, was considering changing the electoral system as part of a package of constitutional reform. In February 2010, the Labour government under Gordon Brown offered a Commons vote on a referendum for an alternative vote system, possibly manoeuvering for political positioning in case of a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
following the general election on May 6. In a BBC interview on Election Night 2010, Home Secretary Alan Johnson suggested he would like to see the AV+ system introduced if a deal with the Liberal Democrats became necessary.
Currently, the position of the Coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
between Conservative and Liberal Democrat is that there will be a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on the Alternative Vote system, but not AV+. The Jenkins Commission rejected plain AV on the basis that it did little to relieve disproportionality, but favoured it over first-past-the-post as the basis for AV+.
The UK referendum was held on May 5, 2011 and overwhelmingly rejected the proposed AV voting system in favour of retaining First Past the Post.
External links
- Alternative vote - what is it? Simple animation explaining Alternative Vote Top-up
- Electoral Reform Society page on the AV+ system