Former shadow home secretary leads revolt over 'anti-Tory' vote

London: Conservative Party heavyweight David Davis has put himself at the forefront of the revolt against plans by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for a referendum on shaking up the way Britain votes.

Davis, defeated by Cameron in the 2005 Conservative leadership contest, claimed that Margaret Thatcher would never have won ten years in power under a new "anti-Tory" voting system now under discussion. The traditional first-past-the-post system nearly always delivered "a clear result" which reflected the mood of the country, the former Shadow Home Secretary declared.

A Tory revolt is growing after the prime minister, in a major concession to his Lib Dem coalition allies, gave the go-ahead for a referendum on switching to the Alternative Vote (AV) system for House of Commons elections. Clegg, whose Lib Dem party has campaigned for many years for voting reform, is this week expected to announce that the referendum will take place on May 5 next year.

The move has sparked Tory accusations that Cameron has needlessly caved in to his coalition partners by agreeing to the vote so early in the Parliament. And the estimated £80 million (Dh446 million) cost of a referendum comes at a time of severe public spending cuts.

Conservative critics are angry that the prime minister is not expected to play a leading role in the "No" campaign, apart from making clear early in the contest that he supports retaining first-past-the-post.

In contrast, Clegg will take a prominent part in the "Yes" campaign.

Permanent instability

Davis insisted that AV was a recipe for 'permanent instability' and an "anti-Tory" system.

He said: "With AV, in times of trouble, you get oscillations of government rather than stability you would have got Thatcher then Michael Foot, Thatcher then Neil Kinnock."

He added: "Our current system almost always delivers a clear result. It pretty much always reflects the mood of the country. You don't want to replace that, as a result of some electoral deal, with something that may give us permanent instability." He dismissed Lib Dem claims that AV in which voters list constituency candidates in order of preference, Πwas fairer than the current method.