Would voters respond to revoution not evolution?

Does the AV defeat show the public does not want radical parliamentary reform? Not necessarily.

During the debate on the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill last night in the Lords Baroness Boothroyd said the defeat of AV showed the public did not want radical reforms to Britain's political system.

She told peers: "This is the Bill's first outing in this House since last week's referendum, so I think we are entitled to take stock of the coalition's position in the light of the electorate's aversion to radical reform."

And with one eye no doubt on the upcoming House of Lords reform bill she added: "The referendum casts fresh doubt on the wisdom of persisting with major constitutional measures that lack popular support."

But does it? Voters were presented with the choice of keeping first-past-the-post or switching to the Alternative Vote.

A majoritarian system frequently described by supporters including Nick Clegg as "evolution not revolution" hardly fired up the public's immaginaton - or for that matter the imagination of those campaigning for it.

There was no option to vote for truly radical electoral reforms as many, including, as Lord Owen said in the same debate yesterday, a system of proportional representation.

Maybe the lack of public interest was down to the conservative nature of the choice placed before them rather than its radicalism.

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