It's a "no" to AV but what does this mean for the future?

Last Thursday the electorate voted predominantly against reforming our voting system, so we have been left with the only other alternative to the Alternative Vote that's on the table - in other words, first-past-the-post, the system that we already have.Many of you will know that I am/was a suppoter of the 'yes to AV' campaign, so, obviously, I'm disappointed that the response to the referendum was largely negative. I wanted AV not least because I believe it's a fairer system; it has the ability to strengthen the link between an MP and his/her constituency; and the fact that it makes it more difficult for extremist candidates, like the BNP, to get elected.From my perspective, these are all very strong reasons for people to have voted yes to AV, but I can't say that I'm particularly surprised that the majority didn't.Combining the vote on AV with the first elections since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition came to power was inevitably going to mean that national politics played quite a big part in the outcome. But it wasn't the wash-out that some people are trying to claim it was.At one point, forecasters were suggesting that the turnout in London would be as low as 15%, but in Enfield it reached a fairly decent 35%. Considering that we didn't have local elections in our area to draw voters to the polling stations, this figure is encouraging - it shows that people are engaging with the political system.As an AV supporter, of course I would have loved more than 33% of the vote in Enfield to have been in favour of reforming our voting system, but the fact that people turned out to have a say either way recognises the significance of the first opportunity in our lifetimes to influence a change in voting. That's massive.Only time will tell whether we, as a country, will be allowed to have a say on our voting system again. We know that the Conservatives are very strongly against voting alternatives, such as AV, so, despite the Liberal Democrats being firmly for it, it's highly unlikely another referendum will come in this Parliament. Whether it will come in the next remains to be seen.What do you think? Do you care about the system we use to vote? Do you want to see it changed and want the opportunity to vote again or are you quite happy with the way things are?

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