Why AV does not necessarily produce more coalition governments: nor does it help small parties to win more seats

Abstract

With most opinion polls showing rising levels of support for changing the voting system in May, some pro status quo commentators are getting quite desperate for things to say to knock the Alternative Vote. The Telegraph columnist Simon Heffer recently claimed that AV will always lead to more coalition governments, and claims that the system makes it easier for small parties to win seats. In the first of a regular series where we try to keep the facts straight in the run-up to the referendum, Patrick Dunleavy shows how neither of these arguments has any basis in fact