Labour's candidate in Leicester South opposes AV

Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice has picked up a Leicester Mercury report of a by-election hustings held in Evington earlier this week.

Mark highlights a comment made about AV made by the Labour candidate Jon Ashworth:

Frankly, I don’t really care – I’ve got more important things to think about.

As Mark comments:

There are some good and genuine electoral reform campaigners in the Labour Party, but this dismissive comment from someone who – if there had been no by-election – would after all have been Head of Party Relations for a man who penned a manifesto calling for a referendum (and for it to be passed) and who is now trying to win over his party to electoral reform shows just how precarious their position is in the Labour Party.

In fact it appears that Ashworth went further than that and told the meeting that he would vote against AV. The Mercury's rather odd English here does not help, but this is what its report says:

A member of the audience asked whether the candidates were for or against the alternative voting system.

Mr Haq said he was in favour of the system, which both Ms Hunt and Mr Ashworth said they would vote against it.

Chalk one up to the dinosaurs.