Wales: Peter Hain backs fair vote campaign
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Neath MP Peter Hain has given his support to the Yes to Fairer Votes Campaign in Wales in the run-up to the referendum on 5 May.
A yes vote in the referendum will see all successful candidates in Westminster elections secure over 50% backing from their constituencies before becoming elected. Over the next two months a series of high profile and fun events across Wales will ensure people have chance to engage with the debate and find out enough information to make an informed choice.
Peter Hain said,
‘This reform will put the voters in charge and force MPs to be much closer to their grass roots. Under the Alternative Vote every MP will have to win a majority local voters to get elected. Under the current system, less than one in three MPs do that: the vast majority of MPs are elected with the backing of only a minority of their constituents, some winning with just over a third of the vote.
‘It will also give voters more choice. They can vote first for the party or person they really want, then second for the one they next prefer and so on through the list of candidates. Or, as now, they can just vote for their favourite. The system has worked very well in Australia for nearly a hundred years. It could work well here too. It is a much better and fairer, would improve our democracy and help rebuild trust in politics again.’
Andy Jenkins, a Yes to Fairer Votes community organiser from Neath said, ‘This referendum is a chance for us to make sure politics changes for good. It is a way to make sure we really do get to elect the politicians we want to represent us at Westminster.’
For further information about the campaign in Wales, visit for regular blog updates or
