British prime minister Gordon Brown’s plans for a referendum on changing the voting system were comfortably passed by MPs last night.
Despite strong opposition from the Tories and some Labour backbenchers, the Commons voted 365 to 187 to ask the British public whether first-past-the-post should be scrapped in the biggest shake up of the electoral system in generations.
However, the Government still faces an uphill battle to write the commitment into law, with the prospect of stiff resistance in the House of Lords and time running out before the general election.
Mr Brown's proposal would give people the choice of adopting the Alternative Vote (AV), where candidates are ranked in order of preference.
Critics accused Mr Brown - who had previously been regarded as a staunch opponent of electoral reform - of a cynical bid to win the support of Lib Dem MPs in the event of a hung parliament.
With the public finances in turmoil, there were also complaints about the estimated £80 million cost of the plebiscite - which would have to take place by October next year.
The plans were tabled by Justice Secretary Jack Straw as amendments to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. He told MPs the expenses scandal had led to a "crisis of confidence in our political system and in our politicians on a scale which none of us have witnessed in our political lifetime".
"This is an important debate," he insisted. "This subject is a fundamental plank of our democracy and it comes at a time when this House is held in dangerously low regard."
But shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said he felt "truly sorry" for Mr Straw for having to present Mr Brown’s ideas to Parliament.
"The Secretary of State was fighting, I think, a rearguard action against the prime minister, who was both losing the plot and was taking leave of his political sense in a desperate bid to stay in office," he said.
He expressed his backing for first-past-the post, saying it "delivers clear, clean results".
PA