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NEWS RELEASE
A NEW DAWN FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT?
17 January 2006
"We place the citizen at the centre of our concerns," said the Arbuthnott Commission last year
when they began their inquiry into Scotland's voting systems and constituency boundaries.
FAIRSHARE, the cross-party group that campaigned successfully for the single transferable vote
(STV) form of proportional representation for Scottish local government elections, hopes the
Commission will fulfil that promise when it publishes its report on Thursday, 19 January.
Councillor Andrew Burns, Chair of Fairshare, said, "The Arbuthnott Commission's statement of
principles could not be clearer. If they really meant what they said, we expect them to
recommend changing the voting system for the Scottish Parliament from AMS to STV-PR."
"STV-PR is the one voting system that is centred on the electors", said Councillor Burns.
"The Arbuthnott Commissioners said they want to place the citizens at the centre of their
concerns. STV-PR would make that a reality. STV-PR would give the electors real choice
and shift the balance of power away from the parties in favour of the voters. The need for
this is widely recognised, to restore faith in the political process with the majority of
electors."
Fairshare made this need to change the political culture the main thrust of its submission to
the Arbuthnott Commission. Fairshare called on the Commission to bring this about by
recommending STV-PR in place of the current Additional Member System (AMS) for future
Holyrood elections.
STV-PR would also address two of the main issues the Arbuthnott Commission has been considering
during the past twelve months.
STV-PR would remove all the problems that arise from having two different types of MSP -
Constituency MSPs and Regional (List) MSPs. With STV-PR all MSPs would be elected on the
same basis. They would all be constituency MSPs, directly accountable to their local
constituents.
STV-PR would also offer an easy solution to the problem of having 59 constituencies for the
Westminster Parliament and 73 constituencies for the Scottish Parliament. It is important
that the constituency boundaries for one tier of government do not cut across the constituency
boundaries for a different tier. The easiest way to avoid that would be to group the 59
Westminster constituencies to form multi-member constituencies for the STV-PR elections to
the Scottish Parliament.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Andrew Burns on 07880 502 212,
Willie Sullivan on 07940 523 842
or James Gilmour on 0845 456 1232 or 07710 784 336.
Notes for Editors
- 1. FAIRSHARE is the cross-party and non-party organisation that campaigned
successfully for the introduction of the Single Transferable Votes system of Proportional
Representation (STV-PR) for local government elections in Scotland. The first STV-PR
elections for local councils will be held in 2007.
- 2. The Arbuthnott Commission's Consultation Document was issued in January 2005 and
is available on the Commission's website
here.
- 3. FAIRSHARE's Submission to the Arbuthnott Commission is attached as a PDF file with
copy and extract permission.
- 4. An Information Pack on STV-PR is available on request:
info@fairsharevoting.org
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