Vote system debate stirs student passion

Independent student-run organisation Just Vote hosted a debate on the UK’s voting system last Tuesday as part of an awareness drive for the national referendum on May 5.

The event took place to raise awareness of the upcoming plebiscite, where voters will have the chance to choose between the current First Past The Post system or a new system known as the Alternative Vote.

Organised by third-year PPE student Joseph O’Leary, the event featured four passionate speeches by panellists from campaigns in favour of and against alternative vote before opening a general debate. Among the panellists were John Strafford, from the Conservative Campaign For Democracy, and Mark Wallace, a political campaigner and blogger.

The subject engendered passion in both the panellists and the audience. “It was a great debate with some very interesting and important points raised,” said Just Vote campaign co-ordinator and debate organiser Jim Tindill. “The audience could have been a bit less partial, especially at the end when a few of the audience started heckling the NOtoAV speakers, but that’s not something we can control. Both sides put forward very compelling cases; it’s now up to the individual voter to decide.”

David Morrow, chair of the debate and member of Warwick Debating Society, said: “There is a lot to know about AV, particularly as it seems technical to many, so events such as these are valuable. Hopefully this passionate, entertaining debate will have helped to promote the issue.”

Matt Hartley, a former Warwick student and former Conservative Party agent, was a panellist for the anti-AV argument, and said: “students will have a vital say in the referendum, and I don’t think anyone else has more of a stake in the issue.”

James Plaskitt, former MP for Warwick and Leamington and in favour of AV, similarly emphasised the importance of the student vote in the referendum. “If this event is anything to go by, then the passion of the debate should hopefully result in a high student turnout. They have a fantastic opportunity to change democracy for good.”

Despite the fact that the referendum is still months away, it seems there is already considerable debate surrounding the issue amongst students.

“The AV debates are definitely worthwhile, if not just for encouraging young people to come together for political reasons,” said first-year History and Politics student Tom Hatton. He added: “The debates allow for a more sophisticated and in depth analysis of an issue which can seem very technical to some students.” However, he also commented that “spending millions of pounds on a referendum to change to a voting system which nobody wants (even advocates of PR) is unfortunate considering the deep budget cuts, which will directly affect students in ways such as the withdrawn funding for Arts and Humanities subjects.”

Voting reform has yet to generate the passion amongst some students that such campaigns as these are trying to create. First-year Computer Science student Toby Ross said: “I don’t think the issue is of particular importance; I think it would be more significant if the vote was between FPTP and a proportional electoral system. I’ll still vote, but it won’t mean too much to me.”

According to Tindill, the campaigning is only just beginning. “We’ll be holding another, bigger debate in the actual week of the referendum in the atrium, so hopefully we’ll attract a bigger audience then when the issue is much more pressing.”

“We knew it would be hard to enthuse a great number of students on electoral reform this far in advance of the vote, but for the time and location, we were very pleased to see so many people show up.”