We have a Referendum on our voting system in the UK on 5 May 2011.

I’m not trying to sway anybody either way, however from my point of view, I think that we need a change.  I’ll tell you for why.  I have lived at a number of addresses throughout my life.  I was brought up in near to an English County Town; then I lived in a northern Metropolitan Council area and now I live in a largely rural constituency.

Address 1 is now and, before 1997, was a true blue Tory seat in which the likelihood of an MP of any other hue being returned can only be expressed in terms of very long odds against.  Ditto for address 2, only the colour of the seat was red.  Now, where I live, they could stick a blue rossette on a dustbin and it would be returned as MP.

Is the system that results in this allocation of MPs fair?  I’m inclined to think not.  In each constituency, whilst the numbers voting for the winning candidates do sometimes tend towards 50%, it’s not usually the case that they exceed that proportion.  Did my vote ever make a difference?  Was I ever properly enfranchised?

Arguments for and against a change in our voting system will be heard more and more loudly in the run up to 5 May 2011, but in terms of making my voice heard properly at the ballot box, I’m going to be voting Yes.  You can decide for yourself by visiting the No Campaign, or the Yes Campaign.