In February 2010, the Labour Government, which had been in power since 1997, used their majority to pass an amendment to their
Constitutional Reform Bill to include a referendum on the introduction of AV to be held in the next Parliament, citing a desire to restore trust in Parliament in the wake of the
2009 expenses scandal.
[13] A Liberal Democrat amendment to hold the referendum earlier, and on STV,
[14] was defeated by 476 votes to 69.
[13] There was insufficient time in the 2005–2010 Parliament for the Bill to be able to become law before Parliament was dissolved and, as such, the move was dismissed by several Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs as a political manoeuvre.
[13]
At the ensuing 2010 general election campaign, the Labour manifesto supported the introduction of AV via a referendum, to "ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election".
[15] The Liberal Democrats argued for proportional representation, preferably single transferable vote, and the Conservatives argued for the retention of FPTP. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats proposed reducing the number of MPs, while the Conservative Party argued for more equal sized constituencies.