Frankly, the AV referendum debate has been one of the most uninspiring political issues I’ve ever come across. Try as I might, I find it tremendously difficult to care. And that’s one of the big reasons I’ll be voting no.

If this had been referendum between FPTP and PR the British public would at least have had something truly meaningful to get their teeth into. But as it stands we have a debate over something which Nick Clegg himself described as a “miserable little compromise.” Hardly very inspiring.

And then there’s the cost, and I’m not talking about No to AV’s £250m claim. I’m talking about the circa £100m that will be spent on holding the referendum. £100,000,000 at a time of substantial cuts in the public sector. £100,000,000 that could be used to put more police on the streets or more nurses in the NHS. Think about it, we’re spending £100,000,000 because Nick Clegg didn’t have the skill at the negotiating table to secure the referendum he really wanted!

And finally, there’s the fact that AV simply isn’t the silver bullet its supporters would like people to think it is. Just consider the following:

  • We’re told that AV will get rid of safe seats (and for sure it will remove a couple) but it will actually create at least 15 new ones, such as Oldham East and Saddleworth which will move from being a marginal to a safe LibDem constituency (according to the British election survey)
     
  • While we’re on the subject of safe seats, AV will make ZERO difference in the over 200, that’s TWO HUNDRED, seats in which the MP receives over 50% of the vote!
     
  • AV can actually produce less proportional results than FPTP
     
  • We’re told that AV will make MPs work harder, but I have yet to hear a single AV supporting MP explaining how AV will make them work harder
     
  • And, in the best case scenario for supporters of AV, AV is more likely to deliver coalitions. You know, the kind of coalitions that necessitate parties negotiating behind closed doors and then ditching very public pledges they made to, for example, students

This referendum is a joke. It’s come about because Nick Clegg didn’t have the skill to get a referendum on PR. It’s going to cost £100m. And, in the end, the vast majority of the British public aren’t going to turn out.

I’ll be voting no. And I hope you will as well.

Read Caroline Crampton's response on why she will be voting Yes to AV here

Tags: Alternative vote, AV referendum