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BBC News
February 4,
2003
Summary:
The
Scottish Executive has published
a draft bill that would change the method of electing local
government from plurality (first-past-the-post) to choice voting (single
transferable vote proportional representation). However, the Scottish National
Party, who are also in favor of using choice voting, are critical of
the fact that the draft bill is being published too late to be
considered before the next elections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2723449.stm Council vote changes
outlined: The bill would change how councillors are
elected.
February 4, 2003 Legislative proposals to reform the way local
councillors are elected have been published by the Scottish
Executive. However, the draft bill to introduce a form of
proportional representation (PR) for local government will not be
considered until after the next election. The Scottish National
Party has said that the bill is not worth the paper it is written
on. SNP local government spokeswoman Tricia Marwick said: "A bill
is only a bill when it's introduced to parliament; what the
executive is touting has no more status than any other bit of
paper." The Liberal Democrats have long been in favour of PR for
local government but their coalition partners in the Labour Party
are largely opposed. The draft Local Governance (Scotland) Bill was
unveiled on Tuesday by deputy minister for finance and public
services Peter Peacock. It proposes replacing the current
first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system with a
single-transferable-vote (STV) regime. This would allocate council
seats to political parties more closely in line with the proportion
of votes cast for each side. Key condition Most Labour councillors
oppose PR and the Scottish party's ruling executive committee voted
to reject electoral reform last July. But progress on PR was a key
condition for Lib Dem leader Jim Wallace agreeing to join Labour in
coalition, ensuring the executive had a majority in parliament after
the 1999 elections. Last September, with pressure growing from Lib
Dem backbenchers, the executive promised to bring forward a bill
before the election on 1 May this year. The draft bill also
contains plans to encourage more diversity among councillors,
including a reduction in the lower age limit on eligibility for
elections to 18. There are also plans to improve financial rewards
for councillors and tie pay more closely to responsibility. The
SNP's Tricia Marwick said the bill is worthless. She said its
publication, three months before the Holyrood and council elections,
comes too late to be considered by the current band of MSPs. She
urged supporters of PR to back her member's bill on STV which goes
before parliament on Thursday. |
