UPDATE 14.23:
It turns out that the Barry Sheerman gaffe reported earlier today was the No2AV campaign’s second mistake of the year. The original list of “114 Labour MPs” included Alun Michael, Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth and former First Secretary of Wales, who is an ardent supporter of AV.
His daughter-in-law, Mary Wimbury, has tweeted:
“Highly amused that my father in law, who unlike me, is true believer in AV was on the no list. Wdn’t trust no ppl to organise voting system!”
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, “To lose one anti-AV supporter may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.”
UPDATE 15.46:
And it turns out that two other names on the original list of anti-AV Labour MPs have mysteriously disappeared from the No campaign’s website’s: Ivan Lewis and Albert Owen. Oops!
UPDATE 18.06:
I have been told that Meg Hillier has also asked to be removed from the NO2AV list bringing to six the total of erroneous No2AV claims.
The Financial Times’ diary today exposes an embarassing gaffe by the No2AV campaign which has wrongly claimed the backing of a Labour MP. It’s not the first time that the group have overplayed their support.
The FT diary reports:
“May’s voting referendum campaign begins with a slip from the NO2AV camp. They named some 100 Labour MPs supposedly backing the current system. One on the list, Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, was surprised. He doesn’t back the status quo, and told his local paper he had “never even spoken” to the No campaign.”
The story comes from Sheerman’s local paper, the Huddersfield Examiner, which reported the story on December 31st. Despite the gaffe, Sheerman’s name remains on the No2AV website.
This is not the first time that the ‘No’ campaign has erroneously claimed the support of a Member of Parliament. In November, the BBC reported that:
“Campaigners against changing the Westminster voting system have wrongly included Michael Gove on a list of politicians supporting their cause.
“…they were forced to remove the education secretary’s name after his advisers said he was ‘undecided’.”
With clear arguments against the First-Past-the-Post system that they support and in favour of the AV system they oppose, it’s hardly surprising that the ‘No’ campaign have resorted to inflating their support.
52 Responses to “No2AV campaign start 2011 with another gaffe”
yes av fairer
Never mind #no2av by May 5th you might have one or two left, (just make sure you get those right) http://bit.ly/h4J1CZ #yes2av #yesinmay
yes av fairer
HEY if they can't EVEN get this right what else is wrong on the #no2av website I wonder? Are they trustworthy? http://bit.ly/h4J1CZ #yes2av
William Summers
@Richard – Looking at factual errors in terms of % is ludicrous. I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s okay for the BBC to misreport a story on the basis 99.9% of their stories are accurate, for example, or perhaps that Gove’s list of axed Building Schools for the Future projects is fine because only 30 of the 700 (4%) were wrong.
In regards to tactical voting and AV, you would need a PhD in Political Science and Maths to ensure your vote was cast effectively using tactics and game theory, and even then it depends on how others vote so you could well end up with egg on your face.
As most of the informed comments on the blog piece you highlight show, tactical voting is massively less likely under AV – and if it was to happen it would only be on a very small scale rather than a key part of the system as it is now under FPTP.
Rupert Read
Here’s my take:
http://rupertsread.blogspot.com/2011/01/no-to-av-meltdown.html
#No2AV meltdown… « Broad Left Blogging
[…] emerged that at least one MP on the list had not given them his consent. By yesterday, the count was up to 5. it turns out that Barry Sheerman MP, far from being a No supporter, is an outspoken Yes […]