As you may have heard, on May 5^th the UK will have its first nationwide referendum for 36 years. We are being asked whether we want to get rid of our current voting system (sometimes referred to as 'First Past the Post') and replace it with a different system called the 'Alternative Vote' (AV).

This referendum is being held because it was one of the things the Liberal Democrats demanded in return for their part in forming the coalition government. The Lib Dems will be campaigning for a 'Yes' vote in the referendum and a change to the 'Alternative Vote' – while I, along with the Prime Minister, the rest of the Conservative Party and certain members of other political parties – will be campaigning for a 'No' vote to keep our current system. Here are some of the reasons why:

• AV is obscure. Only three countries in the world use AV for their national elections: Fiji, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. In Fiji, they're about to get rid of it. In Australia, 6 out of 10 voters want to return to the British system.
• AV is unfair. Supporters of fringe parties can end up having their vote counted five or six times – and potentially decide the outcome of the election – while people who backed the mainstream candidates only get one vote.
• AV is unwanted. Even the Yes campaigners don't really want AV. Before the general election, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg described AV as 'a miserable little compromise'. Another senior Lib Dem, Chris Huhne, said that 'it does not give voters real power'.
• AV in expensive. Holding the referendum is going to cost the country £90 million, and AV itself would make elections more expensive. Counting the votes would take much longer, either by hand or on costly new electronic counting machines – and local taxpayers would end up footing the bill.

If you would like to find out more about the referendum, or if you would like to sign up to support the 'No' campaign, I encourage you to visit their website – www.no2av.org – and to sign up for their weekly email newsletter. You can also follow them on Twitter – www.twitter.com/no2av.