July 5 (Reuters) - British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg unveiled plans on Monday for a series of political reforms, including a referendum in May next year offering voters a chance to change the electoral system. The following are the main reforms being proposed. All are subject to approval by parliament.
FIXED PARLIAMENTARY TERMS
Under the current system, the prime minister can choose when to call a legislative election. Critics have long argued that this gave incumbent governments an unfair advantage over the opposition as they could pick a convenient moment.
Under the proposed new system, parliaments would be elected for a fixed five-year term. The date of the next election would be set for May 7, 2015.
VOTES OF NO-CONFIDENCE
Under the current system, which is based on convention rather than written law, a prime minister has to resign immediately and an election is called if the government loses a vote of no-confidence.
The government proposes to change these powers and put them into law. The plan says that if, after a vote of no-confidence, a government cannot be formed for 14 days, parliament will be dissolved and an election called.
EARLY DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT
Separately from votes of no-confidence, parliament will have a new power to vote for an early and immediate dissolution without waiting for the end of its five-year term. This would require a majority of two-thirds of members of parliament.
REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF LEGISLATORS
The government proposes cutting the number of elected members of parliament to 600 from 650. Clegg said this would save 12 million pounds ($18 million) a year in pay, pensions and allowances and cut what he presented as a bloated legislature down to size.
EQUALISING CONSTITUENCIES
The government proposes a review of the boundaries of constituencies from which members of parliament are drawn to make their populations equal across the country.
Each constituency gets only one member of parliament and the government argues the current discrepancies of up to tens of thousands in the populations of constituencies are unfair. Clegg said the votes of those who live in constituencies with large populations effectively count less than those of residents of small constituencies.
REFERENDUM ON CHANGING THE VOTING SYSTEM
Clegg said a bill would be submitted to parliament proposing a referendum on May 5, 2011, that would offer voters a chance to change the electoral system.
Under the current "first-past-the-post" system, which favours the major Conservative and Labour parties, the candidate who gets most votes in a constituency wins even if he or she falls short of a 50-percent majority.
The referendum would offer voters a chance to switch to the "Alternative Vote". Under that system, if no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, the second preferences of voters who picked last-placed candidates are redistributed until someone reaches the 50-percent mark. Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, who have been marginalised by the existing system, hope AV would improve their prospects.
