NOtoAV
 The NO to AV logo | |
| Type | Political |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Campaign |
| Purpose | To oppose the UK switching to an Alternative Vote (AV) electoral system at the 2011 referendum |
| Headquarters | London |
Region served | United Kingdom |
Official language | English |
President | Margaret Beckett |
| Website | No to AV(Archived) |
NOtoAVwas apolitical campaignin theUnited Kingdomwhose purpose was to persuade the public to vote against theAlternative Vote(AV) in thereferendum on 5 May 2011.The opposition to switching to AV was successful, with the "No" vote to switching to AV receiving 67.9% of votes cast in the 2011 referendum.[1][2]
Party positions
[edit]Parties in the House of Commons
[edit]- Conservative Party[3]
- ManyLabour Partymembers. Although party leaderEd Milibandsupported a 'Yes' vote, over 200 Labour MPs and Peers supported the 'No' campaign.[4][5]Among the prominent Labour Party members against AV wereMargaret Beckett(acting as President of the NOtoAV campaign),[6]Caroline Flint,David Blunkett,Lord Reid of Cardowan,John PrescottandLord Falconer of Thoroton[6]
- Democratic Unionist Party(DUP)[7]
Others
[edit]- Ulster Unionist Party[7]
- British National Party[8]
- Respect Party[8]
- Traditional Unionist Voice[7]
- Communist Party of Britain[4]
Individuals supporting NOtoAV
[edit]- 29 historians includingDavid Starkey,Antony Beevor,Niall FergusonandAlison Weirstated in a letter toThe Timesthat they back the NOtoAV campagain.[9][10]
- Ann Widdecombe[11]
- Lord Owen[12][13]
- Robert Winston[14]
- Ross Kemp[15]
- David Gower[16]
- Darren Gough[16]
- James Cracknell[17]
- Sir Frank Williams[16]
Labour NotoAV
[edit]The Labour NotoAV campaign group was launched on 2 March 2011, with less fanfare than “Labour Yes”. Its campaign messages were similar to those of the main No campaign, with most links on its website directing to NotoAV. It seemed likely that Labour voters would decide the result of the referendum, and at that point the No campaign had more Labour members of parliament supporting it than the Yes campaign. However, opinion polls showed Labour supporters almost evenly divided.[18]
Campaign criticism
[edit]The NotoAV campaign attracted criticism in the run up to the referendum, due to its repeated claims that implementing AV would be expensive, due to the necessity of installing electronic voting machines. The claim was denied, both by the opposing campaign and the Electoral Commission and Political Studies Association.[19]In April 2011, cabinet ministerChris Huhnethreatened legal action over alleged untruths disseminated by Conservatives opposed to the alternative vote system.[20]
At a Cabinet meeting on 2 May, Huhne was strongly critical of Conservative colleagues about the No2AV campaign material, in particular targeting a key 'No' leaflet showing a newborn baby with the slogan "She needs a maternity unit, not an alternative voting system". However, it was then revealed that this had been developed byDan Hodges,a Labour Party campaigner working for NOtoAV.[21]
On the day of the referendum, it was reported in theNew Statesmanthat David Blunkett had admitted that the claim that introducing the AV system would be more expensive had been exaggerated.[22]
Campaign funding
[edit]In May 2011, three days before the referendum vote,The Guardiannewspaper released an analysis of the accounts of donations to the campaign, showing that it been funded almost exclusively by Conservative Party donors. 42 of the 53 named donors to the NoToAV campaign were Conservative Party donors, having given between them £18.4 million to the Conservative Party since 2001.[23]Nine were not identifiable from official donor records, another source was identified as official funding from theElectoral Commission,and one was a Labour Party donor, theGMB union.[23]Among the donors to and prominent members of the Conservative Party were seven Conservativepeers,includingLord Sainsbury of Preston Candover,who had donated nearly £3m to the Conservative Party since 2005.[23]Jonathan Wood,who was the biggest shareholder inNorthern Rockbank when it collapsed in 2007 and later tried to suethe then Labour governmentover itshandling of the bank's nationalization,andLord Fink,the Conservative Party's co-treasurer, British fund manager and former CEO and deputy chairman of theMan Groupplc, have both donated £75,000 between them to the campaign in 2011.[23]Stockbroking and corporate finance group Shore Capital donated £25,000, hedge fundOdey Asset ManagementGroup, founded byCrispin Odeyin 1991, donated £20,000;Lord Wolfson,chairman of the clothing chainNext plcgave £25,000;John Nash,co-founder of private equity firm Sovereign Capital and chairman of the healthcare companyCare UK,donated £25,000.[23]The figures obtained by theGuardiando not include donations received by the NoToAV campaign prior to the passing of theParliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011by Parliament in February 2011.[23]
See also
[edit]- YES! To Fairer Votes,the opposing campaign group
References
[edit]- ^"Vote 2011: UK rejects alternative vote".BBC News. 7 May 2011.
- ^"At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?".Electoral Commission. 5 May 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 21 November 2011.Retrieved7 December2011.
- ^"Campaigns | No to AV".Conservative Party. Archived fromthe originalon 16 April 2011.Retrieved4 April2011.
- ^abHélène Mulholland; Patrick Wintour (16 March 2011)."Ed Miliband faces AV battle as MPs and peers back No vote".The Guardian.Guardian News and Media.Retrieved4 April2011.
- ^Labour NOtoAV."Labour MPs and Peers say NO to AV".Labour No2AV. Archived fromthe originalon 14 December 2011.Retrieved7 December2011.
- ^ab"Labour Ex-Ministers To Fight Voting Reform".Sky News. 26 November 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 12 July 2012.Retrieved3 May2011.
- ^abc"NI parties divided over Alternative Vote referendum".BBC News. 13 April 2011.
- ^ab"AV referendum: Where parties stand".BBC News. 26 April 2011.Retrieved26 April2011.
- ^"Historians: AV Would 'Undermine Democracy'".Sky News. Archived fromthe originalon 22 May 2011.Retrieved4 May2011.
- ^"Historians against AV".Conservatives Party. 11 March 2011.Retrieved7 December2011.
- ^"Ann Widdecombe says 'NO' to AV".Official NO2AV. 11 April 2011.Retrieved7 December2011– via YouTube.
- ^"David Owen: I support a PR system, but I will be voting 'no' in the AV referendum".The Independent.13 March 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 18 June 2022.
- ^Mulholland, Helene (11 March 2011)."Lord Owen backs group opposed to AV".The Guardian.
- ^"Robert Winston at the launch of the No to AV campaign - video".The Guardian.Guardian News and Media. 15 February 2011.
- ^"More senior Labour figures to vote NO to AV".NoToAV. Archived fromthe originalon 26 April 2011.Retrieved4 May2011.
- ^abc"AV: The 'No Campaign' in quotes".Daily Telegraph.4 May 2011.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved17 May2020.
- ^"James Cracknell: Why I'm standing as an MEP".The Daily Telegraph.London. 2 June 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 3 June 2013.
- ^Mark Ferguson,Labour NotoAV launches,2 March 2011, labourlist.org
- ^"TheAlternativeVoteBriefingPaper"(PDF).Political Studies Association. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 30 March 2011.Retrieved20 January2012.
- ^"AV campaign rows causing coalition conflict, says Huhne".BBC News. 24 April 2011.
- ^The real father of the "Sick Baby" posters,by Joe Murphy.Evening Standard,4 May 2011
- ^""No campaign used made-up figures", says David Blunkett ".New Statesman. 5 May 2001.
- ^abcdefCurtis, Polly; Kollewe, Julia (2 May 2011)."No to AV campaign neutrality under spotlight over Tory party funding".The Guardian.