National AV Referendum

A lot of people have approached me with regards to the AV referendum in May and what it means to them. I cannot overemphasise how important this referendum is to us all and how we can finally change a broken electoral system in the UK. The First Past the Post (FPTP) set up encourages a system of 'jobs for life' by allowing far too many MPs the luxury of a safe seat, secure in the knowledge that a minority of total votes will keep them in power. Under AV this will change – we will be able to demand that MPs sit up and work for their communities because if they don't, it will be far easier to replace them!

AV means that we get more choice. No longer would we have to pin our colours to one specific mast. Our politicians will have to work for all of us rather than 'special interest' groups. This can only be a good thing because it means that our local representative can only govern if the majority of people from a community support them! Under the present system we can end up with people making decisions for us whom most of us don't want.

It's important to note that AV is a simple, tried and tested system. It only requires that voters are able to count and it is used by many countries successfully. FPTP has left the United Kingdom with hung parliaments many times over the last century. AV doesn't fix this but it also doesn't make it any more likely. Australia, which uses AV, has returned its first hung parliament in 38 elections. Canada, which like the UK uses FPTP, has permanent hung parliaments. This shows that the 'No' campaign's charge of creating backroom politics is baseless. If we vote 'Yes' in this election, we will have more control over who we want to be in charge.

I hope that as a nation we can get behind the proposed changes. As a country we are moving away from the traditional two-party system as the last general election showed. The Liberal Democrats achieved 23% of the vote, the Greens achieved their first ever seat in Brighton and over 3 million people voted away from the traditional parties. We cannot disenfranchise this many people by supporting a system that keeps new voices silenced. AV is not proportional representation (which I think we do need), but it is a step in the right direction to making politics local, representative and accessible.

Pete Williams

Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Candidate for Alyn & Deeside

Why I got into politics

Recently I was asked why I got involved in politics. I am not a career politician, politics is not what defines me or pays my mortgage but it does affect me. I want to get involved because I cannot just accept the status quo. The issues that we face regarding the future of our economy are going to transcend the current generation. They will not be fixed after the end of the next parliament, nor will they go away if we ignore them. I want to be a part of the solution and I believe that how we prepare our children is the answer.

The under funding in Welsh education is an absolute travesty and it shocks me to my core that it isn’t an issue that is filling the papers. Under the Labour-Plaid coalition, the average Welsh student has £604 less invested in their education than their cousins across the border. Pupils in England are getting more money spent on them whilst Welsh teachers have more students to teach with less resources! The Welsh Conservative plans are even worse: cuts that have been proposed equate to nearly £130 million of the local education budget. This is a further £277 cut for each of our students! Our children in Wales are our future - they are going to grow the new economy and ensure that Wales is strong and stable for years to come. It is our sacred trust to ensure that they are well prepared for an increasing competitive and international jobs market. The Welsh Liberal Democrats want to introduce a Welsh pupil premium to follow our children from nursery to leaving school. This will target the most disadvantaged children to ensure that they have the right skills and are not left behind. I will proudly support the Welsh pupil premium and I hope you do too.

This is when I realised that my family are why I am involved in trying to change our society. I will not stand still whilst we seemingly accept second best for our future. Our children deserve the best start in life - this is the moral thing to do and more importantly it is the right thing to do. If we prepare our children for the future, they will create wealth, pay taxes and improve on the world that we leave them. This surely should be the mantra that all politicians follow and I am proud to say I will do my best to ensure people ask the challenging questions of the powers that be!