British poll reform threat to democracy

London: Scrapping Britain's first-past-the-post voting system would be ‘profoundly un-British' and undermine democracy, leading historians warned on Friday.

In an unprecedented move, 25 of the country's foremost historians cautioned of the dangers of introducing the Alternative Vote system, which will be put to a national referendum on May 5.

The eminent group included the TV historian David Starkey and the bestselling authors Simon Sebagontefiore, Niall Ferguson, Amanda Foreman, Andrew Roberts and Antony Beevor. Agreement on the AV referendum was a key factor in persuading the Liberal Democrats to join the Coalition last year.

Under Britain's traditional first-past-the-post system, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected. Under AV, voters would have to rank candidates in order of preference.

If no candidate achieves 50 per cent or more of the vote, the one with the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes redistributed according to second preferences. This process would continue until one candidate achieved 50 per cent.

Supporters claim the system would ensure that all MPs had been backed by at least half of the constituents.

But critics point out it would also mean that some votes would be counted several times. Supporters of fringe parties, such as the far-right BNP, are likely to have their second, and perhaps third, preferences counted, while those backing mainstream parties may be counted only once. In an open letter on Friday, historians warned that the proposed changes would undermine "the principle that each person's vote is equal, regardless of wealth, gender, race or creed... a principle upon which reform of our parliamentary democracy still stands".

They added: "For the first time in centuries we face the unfair idea that one citizen's vote might be worth six times that of another. It will be a tragic consequence if those votes belong to supporters of extremist and non-serious parties."

They pointed out that the last attempt to introduce AV to Britain came in 1931 when it was opposed by Sir Winston Churchill, who argued elections would be determined by "the most worthless votes given for the most worthless candidate".

Churchill warned: "An element of blind chance and accident will enter far more largely into our electoral decisions than even before, and respect for Parliament and Parliamentary processes will decline lower than it is at present."