Pass notes No 2,722: The alternative vote
Age: 139, since you ask.
Come again? Surely everyone knows that the American architect William Robert Hare invented AV in 1871. Except that he called it Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
He did? Why did he do that? Because voters are asked to list candidates in order of preference. The least popular is then eliminated and his/her votes redistributed until someone gets 50% and becomes the winner. It's used in many countries.
Did you say "instant"? Well, not quite instant. Someone has to do the recount obviously, but it's more instant than STV voting in multi-member seats. You have to bring your sleeping bag for that.
Why are you boring me with this ­anoraky stuff ? Concentrate, please. Gordon Brown has finally decided to back a cunning plan to offer voters a referendum on AV after the coming election.
Why would Gordon do something like that? Hasn't he opposed electoral reform during 13 years in power? A shrewd question. Some say he seeks to cosy up to the reform-crazy Lib Dems and stuff the Tories ahead of polling day.
That sounds cynical. It does, but there's a lot of it about. Gordon is being accused of a "deathbed conversion" for low tactical advantage.
I suppose supporters of genuinely proportional systems must be furious because AV could be even more unfair than first-past-the-post . . . Oddly, no. They say it's better than nothing.
Where is Jack Straw on this one? He's behind Gordon. It's a comfort to know that.
So what happens next? MPs may vote to insert a referendum into Jack's ­constitutional reform bill. Peers may not; they don't have to worry about voting systems.
But the Tories can reverse a legal ­commitment to a referendum if they win the election? Quite so. That's what makes it look like one of Gordon's ­"dividing lines" stunts.
Don't say: "How does this help solve the expenses crisis, Gordon?"
Do say: "I see you already have 58.1% of the vote in your Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, prime minister."