Referendum a great result for Cameron

Having discussed with local residents and friends who are not keen political watchers it is clear that the new system was poorly understood and many people were worried that fringe parties with minimal support - including racist parties - could benefit from the change.

The existing system, with all its flaws, has delivered consistent government and policies which people could identify with. The “Yes to AV campaign” had to try and persuade us to alter alter our voting habits. As with any habit-changing behaviour, be it voting, smoking or healthy eating, this is very hard to do.

Which ever way you look at it, it was a great day for David Cameron. He not only won the AV referendum comfortably by a margin of two to one, but he actually confounded his critics and the political doomsayers by increasing the number of Tory councillors - a virtually unheard of feat for a sitting government.

For the Lib Dems the results were obviously very disappointing - but that is the price they are paying for being in government after decades in opposition. Meanwhile, Labour made minimal headway in Wales, and they were soundly thumped by the SNP in Scotland.

Scotland is drifting towards independence, just as English voters are beginning to get fed up with subsidising their neighbours north of the border. If Labour hope to win future general elections, they are going to have to recognise that they will have to do so without the help of a large contingent of Scottish Labour MPs.

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