Clegg: AV ‘good for our democracy’

Nick Clegg gave a speech earlier supporting the ‘yes’ campaign:

“First past the post is out of date and it is at the heart of so many of the reasons that people don’t trust in or care about politics. It means most MPs are elected without the support of most of the people they are supposed to represent. It means millions of votes make no difference whatsoever. It means millions of voices going unheard. It makes it easy for MPs to get complacent and lazy. First past the post is not working and it’s time to get rid of it.

“Under the alternative vote, politicians will need to aim to get half of their constituents to choose them. That means they will have to work harder to appeal to more people than before. It means they will have to reach out to people who were ignored under first past the post. It means they will no longer be able to rely on just their core supporters and ignore everyone else. They will be more legitimate and will carry a stronger mandate from a broader range of people. That can only be good for our democracy.”