Rochdale says ‘no’ to AV

The Rochdale result for the national referendum regarding the Alternative Vote has this evening (Friday 6 May) been declared as a ‘no.’

Voters were asked to answer the following question with a yes or no answer:

At present, the UK uses the "first past the post" system to elect MP's to the House of Commons. Should the "alternative vote" system be used instead?

40,146 people voted no and just 16,390 people voted yes.

The Rochdale result has now been sent to Greater Manchester where a regional total will be reached at sometime this evening.

Early declarations suggest the nationwide result will be a no, meaning that the First Past the Post system will remain in place.

The Leader of the Labour group, Councillor Colin Lambert, said: “This is something we expected and wanted as a result. This is a referendum that no one wanted and a proposal that no one wanted and just as with the election results the public have spoken and the politicians should listen.”

The Leader of the Conservative party, Councillor Ashley Dearnley, said: “I am very pleased. The proposed system would create a whole host of problems. There would be more spoiled papers and it is unfair. The person with the most votes should win.”

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat’s Councillor Irene Davidson, said: “I absolutely expected it to be a no. I think we have known from the beginning that it would be a no, I’m not surprised.

“The people have spoken; it will be interesting to see what the Greater Manchester result is.”