Campaign Blog

One Vote that will Count

Ok – so we’re down to our final 3. Today we’re asking our supporters to identifying the billboard we’ll be taking to Witney for a wee visit to David Cameron’s office.

Over 500 really good ideas, and with our final three we've tried to reflect the diversity of the entries.

So we’ve got Conservatives harping on about money wasted on a referendum. Well we revisit the glory days of the expenses crisis as Dave reflects on his Wisteria problem while denying you the right to choose a better politics.

Lord Kitchener graces one entry we received on the subject of faith. Dave wants YOU to help to be our next PM. Yes he trusts your judgement that far – but no further it seems. He’s not prepared to give you a choice, and that’s the key element - choice – on the future of your democracy.

And there’s the next barrier we face – The House of Lords. Unelected Peers will all have a vote that really counts when the referendum bill goes to the vote. We need to know that Cameron isn’t going to give us yet another reason to embrace Lords Reform by letting one medieval chamber block the modernisation of a Victorian one. So we doff our caps - or should that be Coronets - to an image of Lord Cameron. 

The theme that’s run through most of the entries is ‘Change’. Cameron talks a great deal about it, but we need evidence he’s prepared to act on change, where it counts.

Anyhoo, get voting, and here’s how:

http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/page/s/CameronBillboard

PS: Owing to a bug the voting page wasn't displaying properly in some versions of Internet Explorer, leaving voters with only one option. That's the choice we expect from Westminster elections - not Vote for a Change - so all fixed and awaiting your vote.

Pickles’ Porky Pies invade Internet

It’s been pretty hard to avoid a lesson from Eric Pickles today. But in place of a school room he’s got Tory Campaign Headquarters. And in place of the facts we’ve got Porky Pies.

Conservatives it seems are pumping thousands of pounds into YouTube ads attacking the referendum on voting reform. Since it was filmed on Tuesday, the YouTube clip fronted by Eric Pickles revealing “Labour’s electoral fiddle” is popping up in search engines and inboxes around the country. To see the Tories tactics in action, simply put ‘Alternative Vote’ or ‘Voting Reform’ into Google and look to your Right.

Well we’ve run his video through our very own Porky Pie detector. And here are the results:

There is nothing wrong with an honest debate on voting systems, but that doesn’t seem to be what the Conservatives want. If Advertising Standards Authority guidelines applied to politics, then Eric Pickles latest ad would be toast.

Pickles should save his lectures for a referendum. If his arguments are so strong then why not leave it to the voters to make up their minds.

So Dave - How exactly do you spell Chnage?

Less than 24 hours after Cameron’s Tories voted as one in a failed bid to derail the referendum on voting reform, and we're stepping up the pressure to ensure the bill isn’t lost in the House of Lords.

We’re not clear what David Cameron means by ‘Change’. He may have reached for a definition in some NewSpeak dictionary. Only in that kind of world, where our broken elections are overseen by the Ministry of Fairness, would the comments coming from his front bench make sense.

Cameron talks about change. He talks about fairness. He’s even dared to talk equality where our elections are concerned. None of these big words are possible without voting reform. We hope this blast from the recent past offers a gentle reminder as the referendum bill heads towards the House of Lords.

We're taking a version of that oh-so infamous billboard over to Witney, and we need our supporters to give us the slogans to pop on it. The Vote for a Change campaign is asking more than 40,000 supporters for the slogans it will be airbrushing onto billboards in his Witney constituency. Change the copy - if you're feeling creative load up photoshop and change the graphics. But either way you can get started online right here, right now. http://www.VoteForAChange.co.uk/CameronBillboard

The ‘We can't go on like this’ billboard has become iconic – and for all the wrong reasons. But this is precisely how voters feel when they see our MPs. We need stronger votes to bring our politicians down to earth.

Sadly last night the Conservatives and some Labour rebels marched together through the lobbies united against change. With less than 100 days to a general election that’s one voting record we won’t see airbrushed out.

Axis of Reaction fails to hold back referendum

Voting Reform is the only meaningful response the government or opposition have offered since the expenses crisis. And tonight a referendum moved one step closer.

The votes are in, and with 365 ayes to 187 nays we’re finally in business.

Tonight’s vote has clearly demonstrated where some of our MPs’ priorities lie. We have a new coalition in British politics. And as they shuffled through the lobbies together, Conservatives and Labour’s rebel knuckle draggers stood united against change.

We now have a clear view of which politicians have faith in their voters, and which simply have faith in the status quo.

And if this Axis of Reaction needs a leader, they need look no further than Douglas Hogg, who we heard from early on in the debate. The man who says giving us a choice on we elect MPs is a waste of public money, but moat cleaning is a-ok. Well you'd be hard pressed to find a greater spokesperson for the First-Past-the-Post tendency than Dear Douglas.

Where to now? Well the action’s shifting to what they call the Other Place, home of our unelected second chamber. Voters need the final say on how they hire and fire their MPs, and the Lords would be wise not to get involved in that messy business we call democracy.

Wantonly profligate

The House of Commons has just passed a Money Resolution authorising the government to spend public funds on a referendum to decide the voting system, by 357 votes to 180. The Commons will now debate the substance of the issue as government moves an amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill.

Ironically, the Money Resolution was opposed by Douglas Hogg, the MP who leapt to fame for his extraordinary abuse of parliamentary expenses. He attacked spending any money on giving the public a choice on how they elect MPs, saying it was a wantonly profligate waste of public funds and an act of political cynicism - this from the man who used taxpayers' money to pay for his moat to be cleaned!

He went on to say that the reason the public hold politicians in contempt is because the legislature did not properly hold the executive to account. We would be first to say that the House of Commons should be doing its job a lot better than it is. But we also think that the Commons itself must be accountable to the people if it wishes to regain our respect.

If Douglas Hogg wants to know why MPs have sunk so low in public eyes, he need look no further than his own expense claims. If he wants to do something about it, he should vote for a change when he gets the chance tonight.

Are you crazy?

“Do you find yourself unaffected by praise or criticism?”

“Do you have difficulty trusting people?”

“Do you feel a yearning for acceptance among your peers?”

Have you asked these questions of yourself? Well you can save a trip to the psychiatrists’ couch by using one of the plethora of online analysts to work out if you’re crazy.

Or you can just ask David Cameron.

If you’re reading this blog, then chances are you’re a fruit loop. A nut bar. One ballot of an election. And that’s because you believe the public deserve a say in fair votes.

We’ll leave it to the man himself to explain, but we’re not taking this lying down - on a couch or otherwise. We need your help to take this message out to constituencies across the country in the run up to the General Election.

Cameron and co don’t have an argument to make in defence of our busted voting system. It’s just easier to call us nutters.

Well let's see what 40,000 loonies can do.

www.voteforachange.co.uk/cameronsmear

An ode to the One Party State

Things are heating up ahead of next Tuesday’s vote. And if some of the invective we’ve heard is anything to go by, our opponents are looking pretty desperate.

Given the poverty of their arguments our opponents are often inclined to reach for a man with a moustache when voting reform rears its head. It's altogether easier than making a case for our broken elections.

Reading MP Rob Wilson got things started with a uniquely tasteless blog piece on Friday, comparing voting reform to the work of Robert Mugabe. Still that beats the usual lazy Weimar Germany nonsense we have to contend with.
 
No wonder Rob Wilson’s feeling a little uncomfortable about voting reform, sitting in such a marginal seat like Reading East. But we certainly hope there are no Zimbabwean émigrés resident in Reading who have to put up with monumentally crass references to “ZanuPF” tactics.
 
First-Past-the-Post is nice and uncomplicated. It gives the impression the residents of Reading East are united behind Rob, when 2/3 actually wanted other candidates in the last election.
 
First-Past-the-Post elections have enabled our own governments to act as One Party States, ignoring powerless opposition as they steamroller legislation through the lobbies. Tasteless references to dictators can’t disguise a Member of Parliament unprepared to make a real case to his voters.
 
 “ZaNu Labour” may have seemed a clever phrase to coin, but reveals Rob Wilson’s ignorance about politics at Home and abroad, and his contempt for the voters of Reading East. Wilson can show some grace by indicating his support for a referendum, and letting the people of Reading make the choice themselves.

When Fair’s Unfair

Well we’ve coaxed the government into action, but it’s not over yet.

No sooner had we extracted Brown’s pledge then the fight back commenced from the opposition. The tone was set on Tuesday’s Newsnight, when Tory Chair Eric Pickles said - with what we can only assume was a straight face - "we're for fairness" while defending (although astutely avoiding giving one real positive for) our First-Past-the-Post voting system.

David Cameron put his on spin on things this morning, with an opinion piece in the Telegraph. He said – and we’ve got 40,000 odd people at hand who might want to prove him wrong - "people don’t want a new voting system – they want a new politics."

Well we're not quite sure how you can change politics when most of our votes don't even count.

The funny thing is Dave used many of the same arguments we’ve made. He argues that in his ideal world “every vote weighs the same.” Yes we all could do with the power enjoyed by a few hundred thousand voters in the marginals. But equality on polling day is a distant dream under first-past-the-post, a system that ensures some votes are more equal than others.

His solution is redrawing the political map of Britain, with fewer MPs (and if the critics are right fewer Labour MPs for sure).  Sadly playing about with boundaries can only achieve so much when our votes fail time and again to deliver the goods.

The Tories are facing a three line whip next week to vote down the government’s referendum proposals. We’re working to ensure Dave gets a few gentle reminders beforehand.

We’ve made it to Parliament!

Another big day for the campaign. Today, from the comfort of the Royal Society of Arts, the PM made clear his intention to start legislating for a referendum on electoral reform. The Constitutional Renewal Bill – with our amendment – is winging its way to Parliament.

We’ve won the argument with government. Legislation in this parliament is the only way we can begin the process of rebuilding trust in politics. We have a system that has left the majority of our MPs aloof and unaccountable, and this referendum is a chance to bring them down to earth.

But how we got here is thanks to all you guys. Last week we experienced the closest thing that Yorkshire’s had to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Late on Thursday we held back our fleet of billboard trucks from outside key cabinet blocker Ed Balls seat, as the government pledged a “united front” on reform proposals. You gave us the weapons - your words and your actions got them rattled, and today we see the results.

It’s now with the Conservatives to decide whether this year really is to be a Year for Change. After the expenses crisis David Cameron would be wise to remember that voters will not tolerate a return to business as usual in Westminster.

If any defenders of First-Past-the-Post want to make their case they will make it public and leave the verdict to the voters. It's one thing to talk change, it's quite another to deliver. Our supporters have helped silence a fifth column in government ready to derail our best chance for fair votes. Now the same treatment awaits any other politicians who feel voters don’t have the final say on how their MPs get their jobs.

Politicians of all parties need to know they face real consequences for failing to deliver on the change our politics so desperately requires. We intend to keep politicians to their word, with a little help from 40,000 supporters.

Now it's time for the final push.

http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/pages/get-involved/

Nice one Jack

A couple of days left before we pop up to Normanton to meet Mr Balls. And we thought we’d take this opportunity to thank our supporters – and one supporter in particular – for all the ideas we’ve been getting with in the last week.

Hats off to Jack Hazelgrove from Brighton, whose Don’t be a Block’Ed slogan, reported in yesterday’s Guardian, will be gracing the fair streets of Normanton this Friday.

So we popped by to meet our ad guru – aged 73 - in his home this week.

So we asked: what’s got your goat about Mr Balls and his blocking tactics? “Balls is a product of an old system” said Jack. “A breed of politicians who think they will glide from university to political assistant, to safe constituency to junior office, high office, cabinet, all in the space of a dozen years.”

It’s a response we’ve been hearing from a lot of supporters. Particularly with these Young Turk types suddenly parachuted into safe seats they probably never visited before. In Ed’s case his wife Yvette Cooper is MP for the neighbouring seat – you'll remember the flipping – but whether that makes it better or worse is up to you.

Brighton is a funny seat. Jack’s actually lucky enough to live in one of the few seats that could go either way at the election, and nearly unique in that a Green candidate - MEP Caroline Lucas - is odds on favourite.

“We’ve a classic situation here” Jack told us. “In Brighton you’ve got two parties on the progressive left, and we get this ridiculous competition. Which ever is ahead will say if you vote for other one you’ll only let the Tories in. On the right you’ve got the Tories are saying don’t vote UKIP or you’ll let Labour in.”

“This is all about persuading people not to vote on principal. And it’s just so appalling.

For Jack, as with 40,000 others backing Vote for a Change, a fair vote is about getting real choice.

“If people have a vote then they should feel that their choice matters, and what ever of the system used, their vote will be there and counting. Parties try and persuade us not to vote for what we believe. All on the grounds of voting the 2nd best I will avoid the worst.

“In so called mature democracy this is nothing short of infantile.”

Nicely put Jack. We’ll mention that to Ed this Friday.