Loser’s charter  

John Reid’s appearance with David Cameron on an anti-AV campaign platform yesterday has caused enormous outrage among certain elements of the party’s top brass. John Denham, the shadow Business Secretary, and a long-time advocate of constitutional tinkering, was one of the most outspoken: “First-past-the-post supports the dominant two parties and is unfair on the third party. In huge areas of southern England, Labour is the third party. “The judgment of the Labour No campaign is wrong in principle on electoral reform and bad for the Labour Party politically. It doesn’t take into account the country’s electoral geography.” Personally, I have never understood the argument that first-past-the-post is somehow unfair.  It is hard to think of a system fairer than one under which the candidate who secures the most votes actually wins. However, Denham’s criticism...