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Electoral System

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, on obtaining this debate. Like him, I want to tell you a tale, but it is a true one. Last week, I went to a reception. Various people were there, and I got talking to a young couple. Eventually they asked who I was and why I was there. After I had given a proper account of myself, saying that I was a Liberal Democrat and a Member of this House, they got all excited. They said, ““We very nearly voted Liberal Democrat””. I fell about laughing, and said, ““What is all this ‘very nearly’ business?””. They said, ““We wanted to but we had to vote Labour””. When I asked why, they said, ““We were frightened of letting the Tory in””. I asked, ““Where do you live?””, to which they replied, ““Putney””. I then said, ““Well you didn’t get anywhere, did you? It still went Tory””. They said, ““Yeah, we didn’t get anywhere at all””. That is the workings of the British electoral system. For that couple there was no value in their vote. There was neither a value in the aspirations that they had, nor a value in their backstop. The debate is about giving value for a vote, which is not always there.