John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington, delivered a rousing speech to a roomful of party acolytes at the party’s national launch of their Yes campaign for AV (the alternative vote system).
Explaining why the Liberal Democrats had chosen to launch their campaign in Manchester, Leech cited the Peterloo Massacre, plus the Chartist struggle of 1842 and women’s suffrage, both of which had been born in the city.
Leech: invoking Chartists
“Manchester has been the centre of radical reform in Britain in the last 200 years. It has a track record of activists challenging the status quo to deliver fairness and is a fitting place to launch the campaign for fairer votes.”
Leech quoted some statistics on voting in the north west at the 2010 General Election – 68% of MPs (47 of 69) had failed to get a majority of the votes cast in their constituency, while nine had been elected on fewer than 40% of the vote. In Manchester Central, the turnout had been just 44% and only 50% in Gorton. Even in Leech’s constituency, which had been hotly contested, the turnout was only 60%.
The MP also called the anti-AV lobby “downright deceitful”, saying they had resorted to a negative and shocking campaign because they feared losing the argument and had much to lose.
Leech, deputy party leader Simon Hughes and Lib Dem peer Floella Benjamin, plus other prominent members all explained why they believed that AV would provide a fairer voting system and that it would encourage people to be more engaged with the political process.
Party leader Nick Clegg had been expected to top the bill, but because of the Libyan crisis had been detained in London.
The Yes to Fairer Votes campaign is urging the public to vote yes in the voting referendum on 5 May, also the date of local elections, for the opportunity of electoral reform meaning fairer votes.
Campaigners believe that under AV MPs would have to work harder to get elected and stay elected and it would lessen the current culture of jobs for life in Westminster.
The Yes campaign is non-party political and is supported by the Lib Dems, the Green Party and Labour among others. The Tories still favour “first past the post”, as do the BNP and the Communist Party.
Next week, Inside the M60 will be running a series of short reports on the city’s Labour MPs and their views on AV.
[...] You can read the Lib Dem arguments for a yes vote when the party launched its campaign in Manchester last week here. [...]