UK coalition launches shake-up of political system

Britain's coalition government announced wide-ranging political reforms Monday (5 July), starting with a referendum on the voting system that will test the cohesion of the governing Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, but also put an end to a practice which has favoured the UK's two major parties.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, a Lib Dem, said a bill would be submitted to parliament proposing a referendum on 5 May 2011 on whether to keep "first-past-the-post" or switch to another system known as the Alternative Vote (AV).

He also announced plans to cut the number of members of parliament (MPs) to 600 from 650, change the rules on dissolving parliament and set the legislative term at five years instead of letting the prime minister pick a convenient election date. Clegg said these changes would make the voting system fairer and better enable MPs to hold the executive to account.

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