electoral reform in britain the jenkins commission
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Electoral Reform in Britain
The Jenkins Commission
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What is the Jenkins Commission?
•The Independent Commission on the Voting System•Appointed by Tony Blair and chaired by Lord Jenkins of Hillhead•Recommended an alternative system to FPTP or plurality-rule system for general elections
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Terms of Reference for the Commission
To recommend an alternative system that would1. Offer greater voter choice
2. Deliver stable government
3. Maintain constituency links
4. Produce broadly proportional results
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The Commission recommended the
AV-PLUS SYSTEM
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AV-PLUS EXPLAINED
Electors would cast their first vote for the constituency candidate
under the alternative vote system
80 to 85% of MPs would be elected in this way as
constituency MPs
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And also …
Electors would cast a second ‘party’ vote
In this way some 98 to 132 ‘top-up’MPs would be elected
15 – 20% of the seats
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RATIONALE
•The first vote ensures an MP with strong constituency links
•The top-up party vote introduces a greater level of proportionality
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TOP-UP MPs
•elected from counties and metropolitan districts in English, Scottish and Welsh Euro-constituency areas
•65 areas in England, 8 in Scotland, 5 in Wales and 2 in Northern Ireland
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Advantages of Local Top-Up Areas
•Reduces central party control of choice of candidates
•Provides local accountability
•Provides a local link for top-up MPs
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OBJECTIONS TO AV• AV can produce more disproportional results
than FPTP (as it would have done in 1997). It gives too much weight to ‘lower grade’ second and third and perhaps further choices
• Furthermore it is overly complicated and makes no sense as governments are elected with a minority of the vote in the UK
• The plus part hands even more power to the party bosses
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Likelihood of Reform?• This was originally a 1997 manifesto
commitment. Jenkins is a senior political figure with links to both Labour and the Liberal Democrats. He is, therefore, difficult to ignore especially as his recommendations seem to meet most of the criteria set out by Blair.
• However, there is no real support for reform either within the PLP or the Cabinet. Indeed key Ministers are very hostile to any prospect of change.
• Whilst Labour has no need to look to the Lib – Dems for support it could be that the chances for change are limited.
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JENKINS CONCLUDES
Our recommendations would have produced single party majority
government in three out of the last four elections … It is therefore difficult to argue that what we propose is a recipe either for a predominance of coalitions
or for producing a weakness of government authority.