Anybody voting Lib Dem?

Technically - yes. In reality, on such an important constitutional change - no chance.

 

I’m very much in ‘Stop the Tories’ mode. That means LibDem in my constituency. Shame I can’t vote Labour, but it would be wasted in South Cams. I know the candidate though and I know she works hard in the community. Never seen our so called Tory MP after I told him to get off my step before the last election.

 

Only the Conservative, Labour and Reform parties have posted anything to me yet.

 

Had a flurry of bumph the last week. Royal mail delivered letters from labour and lib dems, 2 poster sized flyers from labour (same one 2 days apart), a flyer from labour and today another labour flyer.... For a different constituency to the one we're in!

Not the slickest of operations.

 

A party can enact any change it puts in its manifesto. In fact in a representative democracy it do way even have to do that.

 

Well, that's certainly cleared things up.

 

NO, which quickly answers the opening title and question!.

 

I don't see such a major constitutional change as being achievable solely on the back of a manifesto promise. To be fair though, Heath took the UK into the (then) EEC without a referendum, so I suppose that is an example of it happening. However, within two years of accession, Wilson gave voters the chance to ratify or reject membership in the referendum of 1975. More recently however, referenda have been called to decide upon Welsh and Scottish devolution, power-sharing in Northern Ireland and the contrived version of PR which Cameron was prepared to put to the vote in 2011. Then there was 2016! The two main parties are unlikely to agree to PR any time soon. Why would they? If Labour win with the expected large majority this time around, why would they want to switch to PR? Again though, to be fair to you, I don't know how you would class extending the vote to 16-y-o's+? That is in the Labour Manifesto. As is removing hereditary peers' voting rights and introducing a retirement age for the Lords. They do however state that replacing the second chamber will be subject to further public consultation. So I suspect that how much constitutional reform you can do without a public vote rather depends on the nature and extent of the proposed change. My opinion is that full-blown PR would as a matter of practical politics require a referendum.

 

I've heard the tory and reform pamphlets make very good toilet paper. Only had labour and lib dem. through my door. unless my mrs made good use of the others and I'm not aware.

 

My instinct is that a non tory govt would feel pressured to have to hold a referendum. But... as you've suggested, I cant see why Labour would change a system that looks to be giving them a majority. Nor, if a referendum were held, would I expect the public to vote for an alternative system.

As an aside though, the tories changed the voting system in mayoral elections to FPTP without a referendum and it will have covered millions of voters.