As coalition talks continue in the corridors of power and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg awaits the ‘comprehensive’ offer for a power-sharing government that both the Conservatives and Labour have promised, the message from the public is clear. The majority think the issue of electoral reform should be Clegg’s priority. 52% say they think this is the most important issue for Clegg to consider when scrapping it out before forming a coalition.
This is compared to exactly a quarter (25%) who think reforming the House of Lords should be his priority, and 17% who believe he should prioritise his controversial proposal to avoid a like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear programme.
The Liberal Democrats have long proposed electoral reform from the first-past-the-post system to an alternative by which party representation in parliament more closely reflects the proportion of votes that party receives nationwide. Among the three main parties it is traditionally the Liberal Democrats who suffer most under the current electoral system, and this year was no exception. The Labour Party required just over eight million votes to secure 258 seats, and the Conservative over ten million to achieve 306 seats. The Libs Dems, on the other hand, landed only 58 seats despite having over six million votes.
However, it seems the general public’s real views on the matter remain mixed. Although this survey suggests there is substantial support for electoral reform well beyond Liberal Democrat supporters (62% of the general public support Clegg’s plans for reform compared to only 13% who oppose them), another survey for the Sun newspaper found that although 47% would support a change to a more proportionally representative system, a still-sizeable 38% would favour the continuation of the first past the post system currently in place.
So as Clegg and Cameron thrash it out to come to an agreement , with a Con-LibDem coalition becoming increasingly likely, it seems clear that despite pledges from leaders to work together, any decision to form a coalition may actually serve to force controversial issues such as these ever further into the limelight.
