Also,. I was one of the most active pro-AV campaigners in that referendum, and it seemed to me that a large number of people made their decisions based on political grounds rather than on what they thought of the system—the single question I got asked the most by people when campaigning was “Will it make it more easy for X to get in?”
But it certainly wasn’t a case of just Lib Dems and no-one else supporting AV—AV got 33% in the referendum while the Lib Dems only got 17% on the same day’s council elections (and indeed while campaigning I met quite a few Lib Dem voters who were going to vote against AV).
No, you didn’t—I was just saying that while a majority, probably nearly everyone, did vote on similar lines to what you talked about (“how does it affect the party I support?”), not everyone did—even assuming that everyone in the 28% of people who didn’t vote for one of the two biggest parties followed their party’s line and supported AV in the referendum (and of course not all those parties did support it), that still leaves 5% of people who voted either Tory or Labour but still voted yes in the referendum.
Which is a rather comforting thought, as it suggests that at an absolute minimum 5% of voters can be trusted to make their minds up on an issue independently of what the party they support thinks of it. Probably more than that.
Also,. I was one of the most active pro-AV campaigners in that referendum, and it seemed to me that a large number of people made their decisions based on political grounds rather than on what they thought of the system—the single question I got asked the most by people when campaigning was “Will it make it more easy for X to get in?”
But it certainly wasn’t a case of just Lib Dems and no-one else supporting AV—AV got 33% in the referendum while the Lib Dems only got 17% on the same day’s council elections (and indeed while campaigning I met quite a few Lib Dem voters who were going to vote against AV).
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No, you didn’t—I was just saying that while a majority, probably nearly everyone, did vote on similar lines to what you talked about (“how does it affect the party I support?”), not everyone did—even assuming that everyone in the 28% of people who didn’t vote for one of the two biggest parties followed their party’s line and supported AV in the referendum (and of course not all those parties did support it), that still leaves 5% of people who voted either Tory or Labour but still voted yes in the referendum.
Which is a rather comforting thought, as it suggests that at an absolute minimum 5% of voters can be trusted to make their minds up on an issue independently of what the party they support thinks of it. Probably more than that.