[Margaret Pilkington]

Why is it down to the individual, and whether or not they choose to vote?(are you alluding to me in this statement? If you are, then say so....I have all my own teeth, you do not need to mince your words...and I have already explained my rationale for not voting..many times, if you care to read it).
You state that dishonesty has been around since caveman times...what evidence have you to support this...were you around then?

What my comment was meant to convey was, that people have lost faith in their ability to affect how the country is run, by exercising their voting privilege.....they vote but their voice is lost in the dishonesty of the politicians action(or in some cases inaction).

The electorate are far more questioning than they were in my fathers day, the media is far more manipulative than it was years ago......politicians act like celebrities instead of what they truly should be....that is, the servant of those who elected them.

If AV is taken as the way forward then it won't make politics more exciting, it will make voting more complicated(and that will turn off even more of the electorate), it will take longer to determine who runs the country, and it may be someone who you wouldn't vote for in a million years who ends up running the country.

It still isn't clear whether if AV is adopted, and you vote for just one candidate, whether it would count as a spoiled vote.
Mancie.....unlike you, I am not shackled to any particular party....I do not follow a dogma......I use my critical thinking skills to choose who will get my vote....and if no-one fits the bill then conscience forbids me from voting for the next best thing, second best is never best.