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| Following the disastrous election of 1974 when Labour won four more seats but 250,000 fewer votes and formed an administration with the support of only 28% of the electorate, electoral reform had many Conservative supporters. Since then, electoral reform has largely been off the Westminster agenda, except for the debates about which PR system to adopt for the assemblies and the European Parliament. |
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| Coalition with the LibDems means that electoral reform is now firmly back on agenda – even though most Conservatives are still silent. |
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| Back in 1974 public opinion polls consistently showed that 70% of Conservative voters supported electoral reform. |
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| Following the formation of the 2010 coalition government, recent polling attitudes are still in tune with 1974. In a recent ComRes poll voters were asked about attitudes towards first-past-the-post: |
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The first-past-the-post system for elections to the House of Commons should be replaced by a system that reflects more accurately the proportion of votes cast for each party.
Agree 78%
Disagree 18% |
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| http://www.comres.co.uk/page1901674249.aspx |
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| Voters were asked about their attitudes to their voting intentions for a referendum on the electoral system. Latest polling (June 19 th) from UKPollingReport states: |
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| Voting intention for the referendum on switching to Alternative Vote currently stands at YES 44%, NO 34%, wouldn’t vote 5% and don’t know 17%. A lead for alternative vote, but not a particularly large one. Prior to the question wording being decided, the yes and no campaigns being organised, and the public being exposed to many arguments for or against AV, I think we can only conclude that the referendum could easily go either way whenever it is called. |
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| http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2720 |
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| So, which MPs and Peers supported electoral reform in 1974? |
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| Jonathan Aitken |
Kenneth Baker |
William Benyon |
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| Peter Bottomley |
Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler |
Mark Carlisle |
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| Lynda Chalker |
Julian Critchley |
John Davies |
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| Geoffrey Dodsworth |
Sir Nigel Fisher |
Stephen Hastings |
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| Barney Hayhoe |
John Hunt |
Douglas Hurd |
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| David James |
Anthony Kershaw |
Evelyn King |
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| David Knox |
Ian Lloyd |
Reginald Maudling |
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| Anthony Meyer |
Charles Morrison |
Anthony Newton |
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| John Page |
R E Prentice |
James Prior |
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| Frances Pym |
Tim Rathbone |
Timothy Renton |
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| Brandon Rhys-Williams |
Nicholas Scott |
Sir George Sinclar |
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| Keith Stainton |
Ian Stewart |
Peter Temple Morris |
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| Peter Walker |
Richard Wood |
Sir George Young |
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| Lord Amherst |
Lord Carr of Hadley |
Lord Duncan-Sandys |
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| Lord O’Hagan |
Lord O’Neill of the Main |
Lord Moyne |
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| Lord Bessborough |
Lord Caldecote |
Lord Campbell of Croy |
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| Lord Carrington |
Lord Harlech |
Lord Home |
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Lord Hailsham |
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