by Reg Barritt
The outcome of the 2015 general election has placed the first past the post system of election of MPs to Westminster and local councils under greater scrutiny than ever.
Use of First Past the Post for both local and general elections now stands stripped of its main justification: delivering strong government, representative of the wishes of the electorate.
A great deal has been made of the claimed overwhelming victory of the Conservative party and the so called devastating loss suffered by the Labour party (a false interpretation by our media that even the parties themselves have been far too quick to buy into).
In fact, the swing in seats was influenced by relatively small shifts in votes in relatively few constituencies, only further skewed by the distortions of an unrepresentative election result in Scotland.
The time has come for change.
At this point in a discussion, the result of the AV referendum is often raised by opponents of electoral reform.
But AV is not a PR system and was never going to be what the people would want instead of First Past the Post.
As the facts of pluralist politics become harder to ignore the debate rightly turns to how to respond.
The answer lies with the Single Transferable Vote.
