I have a bad feeling about this...
So, seemingly the LibDems have entirely sold the pass with the Conservatives' "reduce and equalize" plans for the boundaries. That is, they find it deeply unfair that with a mighty 36% of the vote, they "only" get 47% of the seats. The infamy! Essentially, that's not electoral reform, it's sheer partisan gerrymandering. And the LDs are going to support this as primary legislation, while the Tories will be wholeheartedly campaigning against AV in the referendum (and offering no vote at all on any form of PR).
Meanwhile, the 1922 Committee, Bruge Group, and the like, are hitting the roof over Cameron's coalition deal: he's sold the party out, there's a total LD takeover, etc. This seems utterly at odds with the reality, and seems mainly to speak to a massive sense of entitlement on the part of the Conservatives. If one's starting position is that 36% of the vote should have 100% of the power, one is naturally going to conclude that "PR gives smaller parties too much power", in that it's giving them any at all. For the record, I do think the 1922s do have a somewhat legitimate beef in that Cameron seems to be a remorseless centraliser in terms of party organisation (draw your own conclusions about what that implies about his policy positions), and the latest move just continues that pattern; on the other hand, I have zero sympathy for their unreconstructed reactionary politics, so "hell mend them", really.
Meanwhile, the 1922 Committee, Bruge Group, and the like, are hitting the roof over Cameron's coalition deal: he's sold the party out, there's a total LD takeover, etc. This seems utterly at odds with the reality, and seems mainly to speak to a massive sense of entitlement on the part of the Conservatives. If one's starting position is that 36% of the vote should have 100% of the power, one is naturally going to conclude that "PR gives smaller parties too much power", in that it's giving them any at all. For the record, I do think the 1922s do have a somewhat legitimate beef in that Cameron seems to be a remorseless centraliser in terms of party organisation (draw your own conclusions about what that implies about his policy positions), and the latest move just continues that pattern; on the other hand, I have zero sympathy for their unreconstructed reactionary politics, so "hell mend them", really.