Published: Thursday, 4th February, 2010 7:00am

Rob Wilson's Westminster Diary, February 4, 2010

by Rob Wilson MP

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I RARELY comment on the minor parties at Westminster - and that includes Liberal Democrats, DUP, SNP, Ulster Unionists and assorted independents - because their impact is so limited and their behaviour so erratic.

The biggest and often funniest is the Lib Dems. With 60 odd MPs (possibly under 40 after May 6!) it pretends it's Her Majesty's Official Opposition, even though everybody knows it's not and is unlikely ever to be. Yet, apparently, it has its own self-styled Shadow Cabinet meetings and calls its foreign affairs spokesman Shadow Foreign Secretary, and so on down the pecking order.

Of course it is lampooned by lobby journalists and MPs, but it must be difficult for minor parties to sustain themselves. Every time a big story breaks, few care what they think, the Parliamentary system pays them scant attention and they generally have little in the way of funds. It's understandable why they spend their time 'ambulance chasing' in attempts to be heard.

However, next week Gordon Brown tries his latest political ruse to save his skin under the guise of allowing MPs a vote on the Alternative Vote (AV) system. He doesn't want proportional representation because that would considerably dilute his, and the big parties', power to govern both now and forever. What he wants is bait for the minor parties to join him in Government in the event of a hung Parliament.

It's so nakedly political and is widely considered the most unashamed attempt to rig the electoral system in living memory - a true Mugabe-style, Zanu Labour moment. Even the Liberals have apparently rejected it, although we'll see how they vote. There's also the question of whether small parties would want to tie themselves to a sinking ship.

Why would any Government, serious about reforming the voting system, decide to do it weeks before an election? Bogus and cynical, but you can admire the brass neck!

There are some who want a change in the voting system because they genuinely believe it will change politics and Parliament for the better. I say be careful because, as the European elections show, you can end up with representatives from extremist parties. No electoral system is perfect but first-past-the-post generally provides decisive outcomes and ensures Government from the centre (whether centre left or right).

We should not change it simply because small parties wish to exert influence and power well beyond their level of support. And we certainly shouldn't change it to help a Prime Minister worried about losing an election.