The AV referendum: some initial public opinion findings

From YouGov comes the news:

1) The principle of having a referendum on AV is popular with the support of 69% of the public.

2) Latest voting intentions in the AV referendum are 45% in support of AV, 32% in support of FPTP. 6% would not vote and 17% don’t know how they would vote.

3) However, support for AV is soft. We experimented by presenting people with six arguments in favour of AV, and six arguments against AV and then asking how they would vote in a referendum. This resulted in a significant drop in support for AV to 33% and a corresponding increase in don’t knows, leaving referendum voting intention neck and neck.

Of course public opinion is not some given that has nothing to do with us; it’s something we can shift (or stop shifting) through our own work, such as my suggestions on local election candidates and starting to campaign. You can also sign up people to back the Fairer Votes Campaign.