Britons Set to Retain First Past the Post System for General Elections
Proportion of decided voters who will cast a ballot to reject the proposed alternative vote system increases by three points points since April.
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(05/04/11) -
Voters in Britain appear ready to reject the opportunity to change the way the members of the House of Commons are elected in tomorrow’s referendum, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The referendum will ask voters whether the United Kingdom should continue to rely on the first past the post system for general elections, or move to the alternative vote system instead.
In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,215 absolutely certain British voters, 61 per cent of respondents say they would vote No in the referendum, in order to keep the current system. Conversely, 39 per cent of voters would cast a Yes ballot.
Respondents aged 18 to 34 are the only demographic that is ready to give the alternative system a chance, with 57 per cent saying they will vote Yes tomorrow. However, the level of opposition to the proposed system reaches 54 per cent among respondents aged 35 to 54, and climbs to 68 per cent among those over the age of 55.
As was first witnessed last month, the rejection to the new system is coming in large part from voters who supported the Conservative Party in the May 2010 General Election (83% say they will vote No). Liberal Democrats continue to endorse change, but not as overwhelmingly as their Tory counterparts.
Download Full Methodology Statement
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From May 3 to May 4, 2011, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,000 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists, including 1,184 absolutely certain referendum voters. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2% for the entire sample of Britons, and +/- 2.8% for the sub-sample of absolutely certain voters, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
