Letters to the Editor
The Alternative Vote Enid Lakeman The Ancient University Professor L. H. Butler Lambeth Hugh Ross Williamson Mr. Randolph Churchill Stephen Barber, George Edinger, Anthony Hartley 1
1(e), to the Lock E. Uglow
Fluoridation Bruce Cardew Archbishop Makarios and the Lambeth Conference
Rev. E. Benson Perkins L'Etat C'est NousW illiam Forrest
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Sabbatarianism Christopher Hollis, H. J. W. Legerton Nights of Bath Kenneth Gregory, Waveney Girvatt
Railway Robbery Gerald Hamilton Catering at Glyndebourne Vernon B. Herbert THE ALTERNATIVE VOTE
Duncan-Jones has given good reasons why the alternative vote cannot be considered an adequate measure of, electoral reform, but there is an addi- tional reason. Even if the alternative vote could be relied upon to give the most seats in Parliament to the party with most votes (which it cannot), this ‘Yould not necessarily mean a Parliament in which the majority opinion on important questions agreed with majority opinion in the country. To take a concrete example, if the Labour Party woo a clear majority of the seats and had more than half the votes cast, it could not be assumed that the majority of the voters wanted the nationalisa- titm measures which -would follow : people vote Labour for many different reasons, some because it is Pledged to renationalise steel and some in spite of this The only way to make sure that major legis- lation will be such as the majority of our citizens desire is to give fair representation not only to parties but also to the main tendencies within parties or Cutting across the party lines. That is achieved by the single transferable vote form of proportional representation, which not only allows a free choice between different candidates of Inc same party (which the alternative vote also does to a limited extent), but also ensures that the choice of, for example, both Right wing and. Left wing is reflected in the result. Moreover, by enabling the voters, if they like, to chose the independent-minded !Ilan in preference to the toe-er of party lines, it loosens the excessive party discipline which now too there leads to the passage of measures for which h
ere is no genuine majority among MPs.—Yours faithfully, EN1D LAKEMAN The Proportional Representation Society 86 Eccleston Square, Westminster, SW I
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