Britain says 'no' to change in voting system

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, walks to a polling station to cast his vote in the AV referendum in central London, Thursday May 5, 2011. British voters decided Thursday whether they want to change the rules for electing members of Parliament, an issue which opened a split in the government but didn't appear to excite the public. Polls ahead of Thursday's referendum indicated that most voters were content to keep the first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate with the most votes in a district wins a seat in the House of Commons. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

British voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to abandon the current first-past-the-post voting system in favour of Alternative Vote (AV) in which people rank candidates in order of preference.

Up to 70 per cent of those who voted in a referendum, held on Thursday, said ``no’’ to AV, according to the results announced until 6. 30 p.m local time (11 p.m. IST) on Friday.

Although the outcome was consistent with poll predictions, yet the sheer scale of the defeat shocked the ``yes’’ camp led by the Liberal Democrats, junior partners of the Tories in David Cameron’s coalition government.

Britain’s first nationwide referendum in more than 30 years was called at the insistence of Lib Dems as part of their demand for broader electoral reforms and a condition for joining the coalition. The Tories campaigned on a ``no’’ platform arguing that AV –practised only in Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea—was complicated, more expensive and less fair than first-past-the-post system.

The campaign was marred by personal insults between senior figures in the two parties with the Lib Dems accusing the Tories of telling ``lies’’, ``distorting’’ facts and resorting to ``smear’’ tactics. There were fears on Friday that the tensions of recent weeks may have irreparably damaged the already fragile unity in the coalition.

The defeat for the ``yes’’ campaign is a huge personal setback for the Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg already deeply unpopular in his party for propping up a Tory Government. The Opposition Labour party was divided on the issue with its leader Ed Miliband backing a change while nearly half the party, including some senior figures, in the opposite bloc.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems suffered a rout in regional and local elections held on Thursday as their supporters punished them for ``collaborating’’ with the Tories in implementing unprecedented public spending cuts resulting in millions of job losses.

The Tory vote held in most places while Labour made significant gains at the expense of Lib Dems.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP), which advocates independence from the United Kingdom, pulled off a dramatic victory gaining a majority on its own for the first time in the devolved Parliament.