EDWARD McMILLAN-SCOTT

vice-president

Contact:             Edward McMillan-Scott                      07785 263007

Press:               .                           .          

PRESS INFORMATION

July 2 2010

ELECTORAL REFORM: WE SHOULD HAVE A THREE-WAY CHOICE, SAYS DEMOCRACY MEP

The British public should be given three choices in a ‘traffic light’ referendum on electoral reform, which is expected on May 5 next year, says a leading MEP and democracy expert.

Mr Edward McMillan-Scott, European Parliament vice-president responsible for democracy and human rights, said voters should be able to choose between the current First Past the Post (FPTP), Alternative Vote (AV) and Single Transferable Vote (STV). He hopes the public will give a red light to FPTP, an amber light to AV – which is not a truly proportional system – but the green light to STV.

McMillan-Scott, who won the first national election under proportional representation (PR) – the 1999 Euro-election - while leader of the Conservative MEPs, is a long-term supporter of electoral reform. He joined the LibDems in March after a dispute over David Cameron’s choice of EU allies.

McMillan-Scott is organising a Westminster meeting for MPs on July 21 to argue the case for a real choice jointly with his Press Officer, .– who is director of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform:

“This is a chance of a lifetime for Britain to get a really fair system of electing MPs. Around the world there are many variants of PR – but practically nobody uses AV. Britain is one of the world’s oldest democracies and it is time we brought our electoral system up to the highest international standards by introducing STV.”ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS

STV is the most widely-used system worldwide – and it is used for the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons and was recommended in 2005 for elections to the House of Lords ( http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/files/publications/unit-publications/119.pdf ) . Supporting that measure were, among others, William Hague, Sir George Young and Andrew Tyrie.

Westminster CAER event to discuss electoral reform : On July 21, jointly with Conservative Action For Electoral Reform (CAER) ( http://www.conservativeelectoralreform.org/index.html ) , a Westminster event at which Edward McMilland-Scott MEP, Keith Best, its president, and theTory MP Douglas Carswell – the MP who still argues for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, will debate electoral reform.

McMillan-Scott was elected top of the regional list of six MEPs in June and re-elected Vice-President of the European Parliament in July: he currently sits as an Independent while a dispute with the Conservative Party is resolved.  For information on this please refer to Mr McMillan-Scott directly:  

Tel 01386 552366 Mobile 07785 263007           

www.emcmillanscott.com