Yesterday’s announcement that 114 Labour
MPs, including 5 shadow cabinet ministers, will be voting ‘No’ in next year’s Alternative Vote referendum isn’t exactly a ‘game changer’. But it has certainly
shifted the terms of debate within the Labour party.
Over the past few weeks a perception had been developing that adoption of the AV system, whilst not generating unparalleled excitement and passion within Labour ranks, was at least becoming the line to take. That perception has now changed.
Labour’s internal stance on the issue is important. Labour supporters effectively represent the referendum’s ‘floating voters’. Successive polls have indicated a clear majority of Conservative voters opposing AV, with an even greater proportion of Lib Dem voters (admittedly, a rare species at present) supporting its introduction. By contrast, Labour’s electorate remains relatively evenly split on the issue. How it breaks next May will probably prove decisive.
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