Kent News - 'Electoral reform key for Lib Dem success in Kent'

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Friday, September 3 2010, 6:22

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'Electoral reform key for Lib Dem success in Kent'

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Peter Carroll and Joanna Lumley

KENT NEWS: Electoral reform is the only way the Liberal Democrats will win seats for Kent, according to party members.

It follows a bitter-sweet general election, where the party gained some of the biggest swings in the UK in Kent, but claimed not one seat at Westminster.

Maidstone and The Weald saw the largest swing from the Tories of 8.48 per cent, to Lib Dem candidate Peter Carroll.

But the high number of votes only fuelled calls for electoral reform, where the party’s presence in Parliament is minimal, with only 57 seats – with none from Kent which went all went Tory.

The coalition between the Conservatives and Lib Dems could mean the party is one step closer to the electoral reform it has been pushing for.

New Prime Minister David Cameron promised a referendum on the alternative vote system to Nick Clegg.

Currently, Britain has a first-past-the-post system where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is made MP and claims a seat at Westminster.

In the alternative vote system, votes will rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate achieves the winning threshold, the one with the fewest is eliminated and their votes allocated to the remaining hopefuls and this carries on until one candidate achieves victory.

This is short of outright proportional representation, which is backed by the majority of Lib Dems.

Peter Carroll, who fought for the Maidstone and The Weald seat against Tory Helen Grant, thinks a reform of the system is the only way things will change.

“Until the election system is changed, I’m swimming against the tide,” he said,

“Nationally, the Lib Dems got 24 per cent of the vote, but only 57 seats. That’s just eight per cent of the seats at Westminster – it’s not fair.”

The Gurkha Justice Campaign founder, who received support from actress Joanna Lumley, received 17,602 votes, with Mrs Grant beating him with 23,491.

It was his third successive election defeat.

He said: “Helen Grant did very well, I’m not taking that away from her, but should the 17,602 people that voted for me have no voice at all in Parliament?

“We need to see an end to safe seats. Everyone should have a voice, but until there is electoral reform this won’t happen.”

Mr Carroll said the Lib Dems will continue to work hard in trying to secure a change in the current first-past-the-post system.

They are pushing to bring in proportional representation –as used in the Scottish Parliament – where there is a closer match between the percentage of votes and number of seats.

Supporters believe it would stop votes being wasted.

Talks of a coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in Government could see David Cameron considering electoral reform in return for Nick Clegg’s support.

Mr Carroll added: “The system needs to be changed. I hope the talks between the party leaders at Westminster resolve this.”

Lynne Beaumont, leader of the Liberal Democrats at Shepway District Council, lost out to Tory Damian Collins for the Folkestone and Hythe seat.

She secured 15,987 votes, but Mr Collins gained 26,109.

“Nationally, we got 24 per cent of the votes, but just one tenth of the seats,” she said.

“This has got to change. I don’t think electoral reform is the only thing the Liberal Democrats need to do to have an impact, but it is a big part of the equation.”

Ms Beaumont said she believes her party will be able to win seats in future general elections.

“We had a very big swing in Kent that beat the national trend,” she said.

“I think around 30 per cent of voters didn’t make their minds up until they were at the polling stations and in the end they went with what they know and that’s Conservative.

“Because of where we live there is a very small Labour vote.”

Despite her defeat, Ms Beaumont said she will work hard for the people who voted for her to ensure their voices are heard.

She added: “We’ll have to see what happens in the next general election, which may not be too far away.”

Lib Dem James Willis, who stood for the Dartford seat and was beaten by Tory Gareth Johnson, echoed his colleagues’ words by stressing there needed to be a referendum on electoral reform.

He said: “There needs to be a change in the voting system to make a difference.”

POSTED: 16/05/2010 11:00:00

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