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Ashdown, Paddy

Paddy Ashdown's Pact with Tony Blair under Strain over Constitutional Reform

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Paddy Ashdown, the Liberal Democrat leader, found himself on the back foot last night as his party's pact with Tony Blair's government over constitutional reform came under severe strain. The dispute centered on the speed of progress towards proportional representation, with senior Liberal Democrats warning that the party would be forced to quit its prized seats on the Lib-Lab Cabinet committee unless there was speedy progress. The comments came after both Downing Street and Jack Straw raised the possibility of delaying a referendum on electoral reform until after the next election, with the Home Secretary suggesting that the government could yet decide to retain Britain's first-past-the-post system.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Liberal Democrats threatened to quit their seats on the Lib-Lab Cabinet committee unless there was speedy progress towards proportional representation.
  • Senior Liberal Democrats, including Earl Russell, accused Paddy Ashdown of misjudging Tony Blair and muted their party's voice through links with Downing Street.
  • The party's pact with Tony Blair's government over constitutional reform was under severe strain.
  • Lord Jenkins is expected to recommend a watered-down version of PR, which falls short of the full PR demanded by most Lib Dems.
  • A poll for BBC's On The Record revealed deep splits in Labour ranks, with 62 MPs backing the current system, 58 preferring AV-plus, and 30 saying they didn't know which system they preferred.
  • Charles Kennedy, the Lib Dem Agriculture spokesman, warned that a rebuff to the Liberal Democrats would be a massive blow, not just to the party, but also for Roy Jenkins himself.
  • Nick Harvey, the party's campaign co-ordinator, insisted that the Liberal Democrats wanted to see "continuing progress" on voting reform, including a detailed timetable of steps to implement it.

Statistics:

  • 62 Labour MPs backed the current first-past-the-post system [1].
  • 58 Labour MPs preferred the Alternative Vote Plus system. [1]
  • 30 Labour MPs said they didn't know which system they preferred. [1]
  • 150 Labour MPs were polled in total. [1]

Sources:

[1] "Deep splits in Labour ranks over electoral system", BBC's On The Record, exact date not provided, 1998.

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