WI: Liberal Democrats force David Cameron to introduce PR

An interesting thing is that during the negotiations following the 2010 election, Gordon Brown offered the Lib Dems AV *without a referendum*. Now, its highly unlikely that he could have got that past the PLP, but what if, Cameron made the same deal to get the Lib Dems onside? Now, you might well argue that Cameron also wouldnt have been able to get his backbenchers to go for it, but I think the Tories would be somewhat hungrier for power at this time, and by combining it with the redrawn boundaries it could have passed.

An alterantive (thoguh perhaps requiring much more speculation) is what if the Lib Dems had asked for STV in local authority elections? This may well have preserved their base of councillors, which in OTL has been seriously eroded, thus affecting their ability to campaign.
 
An interesting thing is that during the negotiations following the 2010 election, Gordon Brown offered the Lib Dems AV *without a referendum*. Now, its highly unlikely that he could have got that past the PLP, but what if, Cameron made the same deal to get the Lib Dems onside? Now, you might well argue that Cameron also wouldnt have been able to get his backbenchers to go for it, but I think the Tories would be somewhat hungrier for power at this time, and by combining it with the redrawn boundaries it could have passed.

An alterantive (thoguh perhaps requiring much more speculation) is what if the Lib Dems had asked for STV in local authority elections? This may well have preserved their base of councillors, which in OTL has been seriously eroded, thus affecting their ability to campaign.

The result under AV in 2015 would have barely been any different (ironically the Conservative would have gained a few seats). In previous elections the Lib Dems would have done significantly better, coming close to the Tories (which would make for an interesting TL) but it wouldnt change much versus OTL if it were implemented under the coalition.
 
An interesting thing is that during the negotiations following the 2010 election, Gordon Brown offered the Lib Dems AV *without a referendum*. Now, its highly unlikely that he could have got that past the PLP, but what if, Cameron made the same deal to get the Lib Dems onside? Now, you might well argue that Cameron also wouldnt have been able to get his backbenchers to go for it, but I think the Tories would be somewhat hungrier for power at this time, and by combining it with the redrawn boundaries it could have passed.

Ironically, wouldn't AV have resulted in a *larger* Tory majority in 2015? http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/system-crisis To me, there is really a difference in kind, not just degree, between AV and PR--the latter, unlike the former, would make it virtually impossible for one party to get a majority in Parliament. Which is why I can't see either Labour or the Conservatives ever supporting PR--better to risk being out of power for a while than to permanently give up the chance of governing without a coalition.
 
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