MP wants voting referendum moved

SEVENOAKS MP Michael Fallon has defended his decision to ask for the date of the referendum on the Alternative Vote system to be moved.

He is one of 40 Tory backbenchers who signed an early day motion last week, asking the coalition Government to consider moving the date from May 5 next year.

At the moment, the plan is to hold the referendum on the same day as local council elections. But Mr Fallon has argued that this could lead to a differential turnout, with potentially greater numbers of people voting in areas that are due council elections than those that are not.

He said: “The Electoral Commission warned some years ago about differential turnouts, which are high in some parts of the country and low in others.

“Would it be right to change or keep the voting system on a referendum result where there was, say, a 40 per cent turnout in Sevenoaks because of the local election, but only a 20 per cent turnout in Orpington where there is no local election?”

He added: “The Lib Dems want to get on with it, and some Conservatives say, ‘What’s the hurry? There should be a proper debate and reasonable turnout.’

Nevertheless, speculation has been rife that by moving the date there will be less chance of a vote in favour of AV, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, a system favoured by the Lib Dems.

Other MPs who have added their names to the early day motion include former Cabinet ministers John Redwood, Peter Lilley and David Davies.