Labour councillors will oppose AV vote reform

With local elections being held alongside the referendum on May 5, those of the party’s candidates opposed to the change are to campaign on a “Vote Labour, Vote No” ticket.

While almost all Tories are opposed to changing the voting system from first-past-the-post to the Alternative Vote, where candidates are ranked in order of preference, and Liberal Democrats are in favour of it, Labour is split down the middle.

Now 66 councillors from six Yorkshire local authorities have backed the No to AV campaign.

Barnsley Council leader Steve Houghton said: “Thursday, May 5, is a hugely important date for the Labour Party.

“With the support of millions of people around the country, we want to see hundreds of new and returning Labour councillors elected to represent the residents of councils all over Britain. But we must not ignore the threat to our democracy and the principle of One Person, One Vote that is posed by the Alternative Vote system.”

With less than four weeks until the referendum, both sides have been stepping up their campaign.

A YouGov poll for Channel 4 News this week suggested Labour would lose 13 seats under AV, while the Conservatives would be unchanged and the Liberal Democrats would pick up an extra 13.

David Cameron has told Tory MPs he will campaign against AV more visibly. Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband both back the “yes” campaign.

The Labour “no” campaign has been backed by 380 of the party’s councillors from across Britain.