Battle for a fair and representative voting systems continues - Lucas

The recent election results released were full of promises for the Green Party, but provided a disheartening result for the 'Yes to AV' campaign. Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, responding to the "No" vote in the AV referendum said:

This is a disappointing result for all of those who have campaigned for positive change in our democracy. The political context meant it was always going to be an uphill struggle; with the Tories united in opposition, a divided Labour party, and unpopular Liberal Democrats.

In the end, the nature of the choice over AV was not clear enough, thanks in no small part to the alarmist rhetoric and misinformation which characterised the ‘No’ campaign. Many have been shocked at the degree to which ‘No’ campaigners patronised and misled the British public. Rarely did we hear positive arguments in favour of FPTP – just desperate arguments begging us to cling to the status quo.

The result should not be seen by the Government as a signal that voters will not support truly progressive change. The battle for a genuinely fair and representative voting system continues – and the Greens will push for proportional representation at every opportunity.