Mary Reid

Ah! the power of blogging ... from an interesting hypothesis to the Guardian in three days.

A couple of days ago a fellow Lib Dem blogger asked an interesting question: Has our electoral system contributed to the MPs expenses scandal?

Mark showed that there appeared to be a relationship between how safe a Parliamentary seat was and the likelihood that the MP had made inappropriate expenses claims. The larger the majority, the more likely that the MP had submitted a dodgy claim. Of course, he wasn't suggesting that all MPs in safe seats were cheats, or that all those in marginals were clean, but he did show that there was a good relationship.

He analysed the Telegraph data himself, and later updated it with support from another blogger, Andy Hinton.

Today Polly Toynbee picked up the argument and ran with it in the Guardian. Mark's blog had worked its way round Make Votes Count and other reforming groups before reaching her, and she refers to it in her final paragraph.

So how does our electoral system have an impact on the expenses scandal? The First Past the Post method of voting (the way we currently elect MPs) produces safe seats and low turnouts. This is not good for democracy, for two reasons.  On the one hand, large numbers of voters feel disenfranchised; on the other, MPs with large majorities become complacent, and now, it seems, are tempted to behave fraudulantly.

We need a voting system that gives fairer representation at local level, and also produces a more representative House of Commons.

Fair voting systems should ensure that every vote has some impact on the result. There are several systems that can deliver this to a greater or less degree - one is the Party List system that we will use for the European Elections on 4th June.  London will be electing eight Members of the European Parliament. Each of us gets a chance to vote for our preferred party, and then the places are allocated in proportion to the votes cast across London. This Party List system has one big disadvantage, in that the MEPs are not tied to particular constituencies, so they seem rather remote.

Other systems, such as Single Transferable Vote in a multi-seat constituency, work better. In this system you rank the candidates in order of preference, and a rather complex counting system allocates second and later preferences as preferred candidates rise to the top.

Whichever system is used it will be a breath of fresh air in Parliament. Just as no MP will be able to feel entirely 'safe' so it is unlikely that any one party will govern with a huge majority. Instead, parties will have to co-operate to come up with policies that accurately reflect a range of opinions in the country.

We need a referendum on fair voting. It could happen alongside the next General Election. A cross-party campaign for just this is emerging from Make Votes Count, Unlock Democracy, The Electoral Reform Society, and Compass. Liberal Democrats have always campaigned for fair voting systems, and it's good to see the support widening.