Baroness Warsi today claims that "candidates will feel the need to pander to racist groups" under AV. The claim is absurd but Warsi has form on pandering to the BNP.
No-to-AV attack dog, Baroness Warsi, pops up today in The Sun making the ludicrous claim that AV would give “More votes, more power, more long-term legitimacy for the BNP and other fringe parties”. The claim is absurd but Warsi knows a thing or two about pandering to the BNP.
To illustrate her point, Baroness Warsi writes today:
“Take Dewsbury, which I lost by just over 4,000 votes in 2005. The BNP vote was 5,066 – more than the difference in votes between second and first place.
“It’s not hard to imagine where AV could lead in places like Dewsbury – more inflammatory campaigns, and policies which appeal to extremists.”
But Warsi didn’t need AV to make her own appeal to extremists. During that campaign she used dog whistle literature urging BNP supporters to vote for her.
And in 2007, Warsi denied ‘pandering to BNP‘ after telling the Independent on Sunday, “We must listen to BNP voters“. At the time, Simon Woolley of Operative Black Vote said:
“Pandering to racist views peddled by the BNP and bought by BNP voters is grotesque. This country would collapse if it wasn’t for migrant workers.”
The BNP claim has been made before by the No campaign. A recent Labour No leaflet claimed, “Extremist parties find it hard to win now. They cannot benefit from the transfer of votes. We should keep it that way.” But respected YouGov pollster, Peter Kellner, has written:
“it is worth noting that AV is the best system for keeping the BNP at bay. The party would seldom, if ever, win any contest under AV, whereas we now know that, if local conditions are right, it can win under both FPTP and proportional representation.”
Indeed, AV is the most “extremist-proof electoral system“. One of the reasons, perhaps, that the BNP are in tune with Warsi by campaigning against AV.
57 Responses to “Warsi makes hypocritical claim on BNP pandering”
Burhan Gharaibeh
RT @YesInMay: Left Foot Forward: #no2av spokesperson caught "pandering to the BNP": http://bit.ly/gbw2Xk #Yes2AV
Nils Boray
Although the Sun article is misleading and jumps, I believe erroneously, to an unfounded confidence in “first past the post”, Sayeeda Warsi’s point is that under AV the second & subsequent preference votes most likely to be recounted, are those cast for the parties most likely to be eliminated early in the ballot – ie. the likes of the BNP. This doesn’t give those parties any more chance of a seat as such, but does mean that their supporters are more likely to have the “deciding votes” than voters for less extreme parties – thus giving them a greater say. I feel this is a major flaw of AV – I don’t think you’re giving that flaw proper consideration here.
Sayeeda Warsi does have a point about AV « Northernheckler's Blog
[…] I read today two related articles published earlier last week. One in The Sun by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi – Why a vote for AV is a vote for BNP and a response to that on Left Foot Forward – Warsi makes hypocritical claim on BNP pandering […]
rachel holden
RT @leftfootfwd: Warsi makes hypocritical claim on BNP pandering http://bit.ly/e8svw9
Nils Boray
I did a quick response to this on my blog here : http://wp.me/pycui-Ac