Madam,

Moving to an alternative electoral system is at best an auxiliary to improving Welsh democracy. Even ignoring the difficulties in selling an alternate electoral system such as STV to the Welsh public, who voted against the alternate vote system almost as strongly as their counterparts in England and Scotland, it is questionable whether an electoral system would bring about significant improvements. Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have operated under STV, with the former in particular rarely displaying high quality governance. Furthermore, STV has a number of potential shortcomings - it would potentially lead to enormous constituencies in rural areas for instance. Furthermore, it would not solve the principal issue effecting the quality of Welsh democracy at this time, which is an un-engaged public and media. Indeed it could potentially make it worse without consistent education on how STV works.

The last Welsh Assembly elections had a turnout of 42.2 per cent. It is this disengagement that allows a party such as UKIP to get away with nominating failed Conservative MPs, not the electoral system. We only need to look across the Atlantic to see an even more catastrophic example of this trend - John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker have not failed to secure the nomination, because the electoral system is unfair but largely because the portion of politically en-gaged voters in America has shrunk to such an extent that a man who believes he must purge the world of homosexuals, Muslims and other “undesirables” to prepare the world for the Revelation, and Donald Trump, are now viable candidates. The 114th Congress was elected on the lowest turnout since 1942, when many Americans were serving their country abroad. The 114th Congress has been one of the least productive in American history, as has every Congress elected since 2010, another year of low turnouts.

Wales can and should be built into an exemplary democracy but the key ingredient is not the electoral system but an active voting public.

Yours etc

Thomas Goodwin

Aberystwyth.