YES! To Fairer Votes was a
political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
whose purpose was to persuade the public to vote in favour of the
Alternative Vote
Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of Ranked voting, ranked preferential Electoral system, voting method. It uses a Majority rule, majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referr ...
(AV) in the
referendum on Thursday, 5 May 2011. YES! To Fairer Votes was unsuccessful in changing the voting system, with 32.1% of votes cast in favour. It was opposed by the anti-reform campaign
NOtoAV.
Structure
YES! To Fairer Votes was a non-profit making organisation established as a
company limited by guarantee called Yes In May 2011 Ltd. Its board was chaired by Katie Ghose (Chief Executive of the
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...
). Other members were Pam Giddy (of
Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
{{Use British English, date=January 2018
The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...
),
Neal Lawson
Neal Lawson (born 1963) is a British political commentator and organiser.
Lawson was born in and brought up in the 1960s and '70s in Bexleyheath, South East London. He became interested in politics through his father, who was a printer in Fleet S ...
(of
Compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
), Vicky Seddon (of
Unlock Democracy
Unlock Democracy is a British pressure group, based in London. The organisation campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain, founded upon a written constitution. Unlock Democracy works to promote democratic reform across the politica ...
) and
John Sharkey (of the
Liberal Democrats).
Campaign funding
''The Guardians analysis also showed that the YES! To Fairer Votes campaign had outspent the anti-AV campaign by £3.4m to £2.6m, with most of the funding coming from the
Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
{{Use British English, date=January 2018
The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...
and the
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...
(ERS).
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
the Conservative
Chancellor of the Exchequer accused the ERS of having a vested interest in a yes vote, as their commercial subsidiary
Electoral Reform Services Ltd (ERSL) was printing the
postal ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vot ...
s for the referendum.
The Press Complaints Commission later ruled against this. ''The Sun'' and ''Mail'' subsequently had to print retractions.
Campaign criticism
A number of post mortems of the campaign were written, all highly critical of the way the campaign was run and of its major backers failure to deal with these issues.
The Electoral Reform Society's formal post mortem on the campaign led by Professor
John Curtice
Sir John Kevin Curtice (born 10 December 1953) is a British political scientist who is currently professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research. He is particularly in ...
of the University of Strathclyde identified that "The criticisms of AV put forward by the 'No' campaign were far more popular and proved more effective in shaping how people eventually voted on 5 May. The 'Yes' campaign's key arguments were either lost or did not resonate with people in terms of why they should vote 'yes'."
Andy May, a key member of the Yes Campaign, drew attention to a number of strategic blunders in the campaign and criticised the campaign director and senior staff. His view was corroborated by another insider account by former staff member James Graham. Anthony Barnett criticised one of the major funders,
the Joseph Rowntree Reform trust for lack of oversight and scrutiny of its huge donation. Criticism of the Electoral Reform Society's role was also widespread and resulted in major changes to the organisation. In the council elections in 2011 there were 52 candidates for the 15 places available. Only four of the previous council were re-elected with eight of the new members having stood explicitly on a joint platform of reforming the society.
On 20 March 2021 the BBC broadcast a radio programme about the campaign, which was to roughly correspond with the approaching 10th anniversary of the referendum. Several senior figures from the campaign weighed in with previously unheard criticisms of the way the campaign was run, notably campaign chair
Katie Ghose
Katie Sushila Ratna Ghose (born July 1970) is a British charity chief executive and campaigner. In September 2019 she was appointed chief executive of KIDS, a national charity for disabled children and young people.
She was previously Chief Ex ...
saying that "although there was a fair amount of swagger on the Yes side, actually no one knew what they were doing".
Director of Operations and Finance
Nick Tyrone told the story on the programme of how the campaign had considered placing inflatable MPs bottoms in town squares so that people could "kick them".
Political parties supporting YES! To Fairer Votes
The following parties supported the change to AV:
* The
Liberal Democrats[
*]Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...
and the Scottish Green Party
The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 20 ...
[
* The ]Christian Peoples Alliance
The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) is a Christian rightist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was founded in its present form in 1999, having grown out of a cross-party advocacy group called the Movement for Christian Democracy. ...
* The Scottish National Party (SNP)[
* ]Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
AV referendum: Where parties stand
/ref>
* Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
[NI parties divided over Alternative Vote referendum]
by Mark Davenport, BBC News, 13 April 2011
* The Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...
(SDLP)
* The Alliance Party
* The UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
(UKIP)
The Labour Party, despite its leader's pro-AV stance, did not campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum, and there were opposing Labour Yes and Labour NOtoAV campaigns.
Despite the Conservative Party's formal position against AV, party members aligned to Conservative Action for Electoral Reform, an internal party group in favour of electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
* Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-r ...
, did campaigning in favour.
Other organisations supporting YES! To Fairer Votes
*38 Degrees
38 Degrees is a British not-for-profit political-activism organisation. It describes itself as " progressive" and claims to "campaign for fairness, defend rights, promote peace, preserve the planet and deepen democracy in the UK".
38 Degrees t ...
*Compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
* Ekklesia
* Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...
*''The Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
''
* Friends of the Earth
* Greenpeace
*''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
*''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''
*Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
{{Use British English, date=January 2018
The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...
,
* The New Economics Foundation
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice".
NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth ...
* ResPublica
* Take Back Parliament
* Unlock Democracy
Unlock Democracy is a British pressure group, based in London. The organisation campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain, founded upon a written constitution. Unlock Democracy works to promote democratic reform across the politica ...
* World Development Movement
Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.
The organisation produces r ...
Notable individuals supporting YES! To Fairer Votes
The following people actively supported the campaign:
* Chris Addison
Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of ...
* Kriss Akabusi
Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi , MBE (born 28 November 1958), known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
His first international successes were with the British 4×400 metres relay team, winning a ...
* Rt Rev David Atkinson[Alternative Vote backed by senior Church of England bishops](_blank)
''The Guardian'', 1 February 2011
* Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist and game writer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel '' The Power'', which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017.
Biography
Alderman was born in London, the daught ...
* Jonathan Bartley
Jonathan Charles Bartley (born 16 October 1971) is a British politician and was Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, a position he shared with Caroline Lucas and then, from 4 September 2018, with Siân Berry. He was the Green Pa ...
* Martin Bell
Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...
[Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter back AV yes campaign]
by Patrick Wintour, ''The Guardian'', 15 February 2011
* Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...
* Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
[
* Billy Bragg;]
* Melvyn Bragg
* Rt Rev Colin Buchanan;[AV race in religion row](_blank)
politics.co.uk, 1 February 2011
* John Cleese
* Steve Coogan
* Rt Rev Peter Dawes
Peter Spencer Dawes (5 February 1928 – 10 November 2022) was the fifth Church of England Bishop of Derby from 1988 to 1995.
Dawes was educated at Aldenham School and Hatfield College, Durham, and ordained in 1955. His career began with cur ...
* Greg Dyke
Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...
* Colin Firth[
* ]Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
* Bonnie Greer
Bonnie Greer, OBE FRSL (born 16 November 1948) is an American-British playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster, who has lived in the UK since 1986. She has appeared as a panellist on television programmes such as ''Newsnight Review'' and ''Q ...
* Eddie Izzard
Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime.
Izzard's stand- ...
* Rt Rev Michael Langrish
Michael Laurence Langrish (born 1 July 1946) is a retired English Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Exeter from 2000 to 2013.
Early life and education
Langrish was born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Douglas Frank Langrish and Brenda Fl ...
* Rt Rev Martyn Jarrett
Martyn William Jarrett SSC (born 25 October 1944) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Beverley in the Church of England from 2000 to 2012.
Jarrett was educated at Cotham Grammar School and King's College London (BD, AKC).
...
* Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
* Kevin Maguire
* Art Malik
* Francesca Martinez
* John O'Farrell
* Rt Rev John Packer
* James Palumbo
James "Jamie" Rudolph Palumbo, Baron Palumbo of Southwark (born 6 June 1963) is a British entrepreneur and member of the House of Lords. Biography
The eldest son of property developer Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, Jamie was born in London and ...
[
* Rt Rev Michael Perham]
* Tony Robinson
Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...
* David Schneider,
* Rt Rev Alan Smith
* Rt Rev Nigel Stock
* Polly ToynbeeTo kick Clegg may be tempting, but winning AV is essential
by Polly Toynbee, ''The Guardian'', 14 March 2011
* Rt Rev Alan Wilson
* Richard Wilson
* Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...
See also
* NOtoAV, the opposing campaign group
References
{{United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011
Electoral reform groups
Political organisations based in the United Kingdom
Electoral reform in the United Kingdom
Political campaigns in the United Kingdom
2011 in British politics