Norman Lamb: Lib Dems would settle for Alternative Vote

Next Left has an account of a fringe meeting at the Labour Conference in Manchester. Among those taking part were Peter Hain and Norman Lamb:

Peter Hain was running late for the event, but he had a good opening line.

"I am sorry for being late. But before I came here, I thought I had better go and give a speech on electoral reform."

This generated a hearty cheer from Lamb on the platform, as well as applause and laughter from much (if not all) of the audience.

To which Hain said:

"But wait until you hear what it was. I am for the Alternative Vote - and not for proportional representation."

To which Lamb shouted: "We'll take that. We'll take that" from the platform.

Next Left suggests this has long been the position of most of the LibDem frontbench, but notes that they may have "difficulties convincing their party that AV is a step in the right direction if the holy grail of STV can not be gained".

Watch this space.