AV versus FPTP

I couldn't agree more with the article yesterday about First Past the Post (FPTP) possibly saving Lib Dem bacon in many areas. It did for me last year in the Hykeham Forum Division in the County Council elections last year.

In a four way contest I got in with around 32% of the vote - my 'lowest' victory on the four occasions I have fought the seat. With Labour last with 257 votes, my tally was 607 (down 11% on 2009), the Tory got 558 and the UKIP candidate, coming from nowhere, got 504 votes. The latter lived in an old people's home, never campaigned as far as I know and certainly never turned up to the count. Heaven knows how he would have coped if he had actually won! However, I'm sure that, under the Alternative Vote (AV) most of his second preferences would quite likely have gone to the Tory so that would probably have been the end of me!

HOWEVER, I'm still in favour of Proportional Representation but not AV, which is not really PR. It's just a good job that the Yes to AV campaign made such a pig's ear of everything! So, perhaps that photo the NO2AV regularly used in their literature of Nick Clegg entering No 10 did many of us a favour!