Sexminster: another benefit of the single transferable vote

Revelations of sexual misbehaviour in Westminster continue. A case involving a member of the Welsh Parliament (elected by a mixture of first-past-the-post and top-up party lists) has also come to our attention. Anthony Tuffin of the STV bulletin remarks:

Sexual misconduct & MPs’ expenses

Electoral reform could help to mitigate both problems.

Clearly, an MP who goes to prison for breaking the law should cease being an MP but what about lesser actions which, although not illegal, some voters may find unacceptable?  The standard response to that question is that they should vote against the MP at the next election and, if enough do that, the MP will be out of Parliament.

But we know it doesn’t work like that with FPTP if the constituency party continues to support the MP.  First, party supporters cannot vote against the MP without also voting against their own party.  Secondly, it would take an enormous number of switched votes to replace the sitting MP in a safe seat.

Most PR systems wouldn’t solve the problem if the party continued to put the MP near the top of the party list.

STV and open list systems would allow constituents to vote against an individual candidate without voting against their own party.  Voters, as a whole, could decide whether an MP’s conduct warranted dismissal or re-election.