By Ned Simons - 3rd November 2010
The Commons has passed the Bill that will redraw the electoral map of the United Kingdom and pave the way for a referendum on changing the voting system.
MPs voted 321 votes to 264. in favour of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill last night, which now moves to the House of Lords.
The flagship piece of coalition legislation piloted through the Commons by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg allows the government to hold a referendum on ditching the first past the post electoral system for Westminster elections in favour of the Alternative Vote.
It also cuts the number of MPs from 650 to 600 in an attempt to save money and equalise the number of voters in each constituency.
While the Bill passed the Commons, MPs from all parties have expressed concerns that the changes to constituency boundaries necessitated by the Bill ignore existing community and geographical boundaries.
Debating the measures last night night Liberal Democrat Andrew George said the Bill could lead to "homogenised, pasteurised constituencies of bland uniformity".
While Chris Bryant, the Labour shadow minister charged with scrutinising the Bill for the Opposition warned on against it's "strive for mathematical purity".
Speaking on Monday Bryant said: "This country is not a Rubik's cube devised by a mathematician, it is a complex jumble of communities. Some live in inconvenient numbers in inconvenient places that cannot be readily and symmetrically delineated in equal numbers."
Plans to redraw constituency boundaries have been especially controversial for MPs who represent constituencies with natural geographical boundaries such as the Isle of Wight, the country's most populous constituency.
Intervening in the debate on Monday, the island's Conservative MP Andrew Turner said revisions should be made by the Boundary Commission rather than according to the “diktat of the deputy prime minister".
"It is a terrible thing to have one's constituency divided. I recognise that that will happen in some cases, but what I do not like is the idea of the constituency being divided and part of it sent to the mainland," he told MPs.
But Clegg told MPs last night that the push to equalize the size of constituencies was a matter of fairness.
"It's right that constituencies are more fairly sized so that the weight of a person's vote does not depend on where they live," he said.
"It's right that we reverse the unintended trend that has seen this House grow in size, capping its membership at a more reasonable number.
"It's right that on the extremely important question of which system voters use to elect MPs people have their say.
"And crucially it's right that at a time when people's trust in Parliament has been tested to destruction we act to renew our institutions."
The Bill, which permits a referendum on the Alternative Vote, has also caused consternation among Welsh and Sottish MPs as the poll is due to be held on May 5 2011, the same day as national parliament elections.
But Clegg again defended the plans, telling the Commons that he believes voters would be able to handle voting on two separate issues on the same day.
"I believe that voters are able to distinguish between elections to local government or devolved institutions and a straightforward yes or no question on a different issue," he said.
The Bill is a crucial piece of legislation for the government, as the Conservatives were only able to secure a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats after they promised to permit a referendum on changing the voting system.
Article Comments
To see the dangers of changing the system, just look at the recent Labour Party leadership election - what a mess!
Alan Bailey
3rd Nov 2010 at 5:27 pm
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