Britain's referendum on voting reform was doomed to failure before it was even announced.
The yes campaign and the Clegg Democrats were played as fools and fools they were. Britain's first referendum on electoral reform was a futile excise of cynicism fueled by lies deception and political corruption.
The victory for the "No camp" was shallow with the turn out being less then 50%. The conservative party stood by and sold out its coalition by running a campaign opposing democratic reform. The Labor Party also sold out its constituency preferring instead to prop up the failed discredited first-past-the-post voting system.
Many of the No camp's lies and deception had been exposed by ABC election analysts Antony Green in his electoral blog, but Antony Green was ignored by the British media and his message of facts lost in a see of misrepresentation. The real loser, apart from democracy itself is the Liberal Democrats and Britain's Deputy Prime-Minister Nick Clegg.
They sided with a coalition partner that took then for a ride knowing that if they lose the referendum the Liberal Democrats will also lose support. If the Liberal Democrats pulled out of the coalition and fresh elections were held then the Conservative party would most likely win support and government in their own right.
The Liberal Democrats having fought and lost the referendum is seen as a lost one issue party. A party that lacks direction, substance and commitment. This also showed up in the results of the British local Council elections.
The yes campaign lacked inspiration and commitment of purpose, They failed tenths and engage the voters. The first and most obvious mistake was allowing the system of voting to be referred to as AV "Alternative Voting" as opposed to using the Australian terminology of Preferential voting "The allocation of preference and the need for majority representation. If a candidate does not secure 50% or more votes and your candidate of choice is unsuccessful then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is excluded and their votes distributed according to the voters next prefereed candidate.
Because of the Liberal Democrats failure to hold their coalition partners to account Britain, like Canada, will not be given a second chance to modernise and democratise it's voting system. Britain, Canada and the USA will remain stuck in the 19th century where candidates are elected with less then 40% of the vote. Voting turn out was below 50% and the two major parties regain dominance at the expense of Britain's democratic rights.
Nick Clegg had only one chance and he blew it. He failed to provide leadership and he failed to inspire the people of Britain to embrace reform.
With the referendum out of the way The conservative Tory party will feel dominate over its coalition party in the full knowledge that they are now in a position to go back to the polls with a deflated and rejected middle of the road opposition party and a labor party that has yet to find its moral ground and support from the voting public.
If the Liberal Democrats do not tow the line they will become the scape goat for the next election. They will lose the balance of power and with it political mussel and influence. Nick is a captive hostage to the Tories and he will be soon seen to be their bitch willing to do anything to remain in office. A part deviod of principle and strategy.
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