Six months from the AV referendum, how are the campaigns shaping up?

The Yes to fairer votes site launches this week. In contrast to the dull oppressive shades of the No campaign’s site, it is clear, bright and colourful, and focuses on the grassroots nature of the campaign with ways in which people can get involved. There is now a network of determined activists across the country that has grown steadily since the extraordinary outpouring of energy during the purple “fair votes” protests back in May.

With exactly six months to go until the proposed referendum on AV, Guy Aitchison, a blogger and political activist who is a contributing editor at openDemocracy.net and a volunteer with Take Back Parliament, looks at how the opposing campaigns are shaping up

The early announcement that Matthew Elliott, head of the radical right-wing group The TaxPayers’ Alliance, would be heading the “No” campaign, has led most mainstream commentators to the lazy assumption that the opponents of reform are far ahead in terms of strategy and organisation. Elliott, of course, enjoys a fearsome reputation for his success in getting the low-tax, anti-state message favoured by the group’s wealthy backers into the media, and the TPA can justifiably boast of their influence over Tory policy.

But this referendum isn’t going to be won or lost in the column inches of the Daily Mail, much less the dining rooms of Notting Hill. Come May 5th, it’ll be the people who decide whether they want change – and there are many hundreds who are already mobilising to achieve it.

This bonfire weekend, the contrast between the two campaigns couldn’t be starker. The No campaign has drawn on the resources of its wealthy backers – people who have most to gain from the status quo – to fund a new video and a series of online ads designed to sow anger and confusion.

The video asks what are the “burning issues” for you this bonfire weekend, before pointing out that “cuts”, “jobs”, “schools” and “hospitals” are being ignored for a referendum on the Alternative Vote. It is striking how there is zero discussion of the issues raised by electoral reform in the video. Instead, the focus is solely on the alleged cost of the referendum.

This, then, is how the No campaign will be playing it. With easy populist slogans, designed to spread confusion and exploit popular anger at the cuts. The irony, of course, is that the message comes from a mixture of Tories and TPA luminaries, people who have done more than anyone else to further the government’s cuts agenda. And make no mistake, they take the very opposite view of the cuts to the one implied by this video. They know that they have every reason to fear democracy.

As a researcher at the fellow right-wing think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), put it in a moment of remarkable candour, AV is “not a good way to elect Members of Parliament who will support radical free-market economic reforms”, since this system requires politicians to build a broad base of support and attract second and third preferences and this is likely to disadvantage free marketeers whose views enjoy limited popularity.

Whilst the No campaign remains fixated by pushing its negative agenda into the Westminster media, the Yes campaign has been quietly putting in place an experienced team, with a mixture of Liberal Democrats, Labour, and non-aligned figures in senior positions, including John Sharkey, formerly of Saatchi and Saatchi, Paul Sinclair, a former advisor to Gordon Brown, and Katie Ghose, the new director of the Electoral Reform Society.

The Yes to fairer votes site launches this week. In contrast to the dull oppressive shades of the No campaign’s site, it is clear, bright and colourful, and focuses on the grassroots nature of the campaign with ways in which people can get involved. There is now a network of determined activists across the country that has grown steadily since the extraordinary outpouring of energy during the purple “fair votes” protests back in May.

They are ready to take the fight for reform to the country, turning every town, street and doorstep purple. This weekend more than 50 fairer votes launch events are taking place in communities from Watford, to Manchester, to Aberdeen, all organised by local Yes campaign volunteers. You can find one in your area using the Take Back Parliament site, and perhaps pop down and enjoy some firework as well.

It’s the difference between an authentic grassroots mobilisation and pseudo-radical astro-turfing designed to preserve the status quo. With six months to go, the different approaches of the two campaigns are very much on display.

22 Responses to “Six months from the AV referendum, how are the campaigns shaping up?”

  1. George Gabriel

    RT @YesInMay: RT @GuyAitchison: Six months from the AV referendum, how are the campaigns shaping up? @leftfootfwd http://bit.ly/cyF1oV # …

  2. Richard

    Hi Guy,
    Is there any concern that the referendum will be caught up in the politics of the day and will not be considered on its merits?

    By the time of the referendum, the cuts will have started to bite, and the animus directed towards to the Lib Dems, especially on the left, will be strong. Many Labour people, who in other circumstances would be pro-reform may want to give Clegg and the Lib Dems a political bloody nose. I know a number of progressives who are saying they are voting no, because that “bastard” Clegg is supporting yes.

    For this to pass, there will need to be some peace made between Labour and the Lib Dems. I have a feeling that the antagonism between them and their supporters will be so strong, it will contaminate this effort.

  3. Stuart

    As an AV supporter I have to say that the campaign has unfortunately been lame so far. Why has it taken 6 months to put a website up? (And there’s no reason it couldn’t have been in place *before* the general election.) No doubt it’s not easy to get messages through to an apathetic media. But at the moment there isn’t even a place that lazy journalists can go to for the pro-AV argument. Instead we get repeated emails and blog posts promising that the campaign really is starting and there’s no need to write it off. Stop being defensive about the campaign and start campaigning!

    There are a number of myths and half-truths that have already become almost accepted as fact in the media, including…
    1. it isn’t really proportional and is worse than the old system
    2. the fact that boundary changes are being smuggled into the same piece of legislation means that Labour supporters shouldn’t support it
    3. it is a dismal compromise that is no one’s first choice

    These need to be tackled urgently, stressing that while it might not be the first choice, it is a clear improvement on the present system. Going on about the lack of proportionality misses the point; it is a good system because it (mostly) removes the need to vote tactically and reflects voters’ full range of preferences (their full ranking of the candidates) rather than only their first choice.

    The boundary changes are unfortunate for the campaign, to say the least – but are not as unfair as they are being made out to be. It will remain the case that Labour needs fewer votes to get elected than either of the other parties. We shouldn’t fall for this deliberate attempt by the Tories to sabotage left-wing support for AV.

  4. Andrew Bradley

    Time for the @yesinmay campaign for fairer votes in Britain to shout louder – the current, corrupt system cannot stay! http://bit.ly/bYuoyK

  5. Andrew Bradley

    Time for the @YesInMay campaign for fairer votes in Britain to shout louder – the current, corrupt system cannot stay! http://bit.ly/bYuoyK

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