The referendum on an Alternative Vote system has been scrapped as part of the ‘Wash Up’ session at the end of Parliament. With it dies any hope of electoral reform in the near future.

The Tory slogan ‘vote for change’ doesn’t seem to apply to electoral reform though. The Tories, who are likely to form the next Government, are actually opposed to any change largely because they are one of the chief beneficiaries of the existing system.

Let’s hope that there are some senior Conservatives out there who can see beyond their narrow partisan interests and look at the broader health of politics in this country. Fewer people are voting, fewer people trust the main parties and fewer people trust the politicians. It’s time for some real change to shake up the system and restore politics to a calling for people of integrity, passion and belief. Only by giving the people the politicians they actually vote for, and not those just foisted on them by the main parties will we see any real change.