Grassroots activists worried about party compromises

May 10 2010 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

GRASSROOTS party activists in the North East have warned party bosses that “compromise can only go so far” as debate on the future Government continues.

Both Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in the region have warned they will have a hard job selling a deal to voters locally if party leaders make too many concessions.

The Lib Dems have admitted the only way to justify a coalition on the doorsteps is with a move towards voting reform, while Tory members in the region say they may not accept a full change in how the country votes.

Lib Dems in the North East say they have spent decades campaigning for the number of seats awarded in a general election to be based on how many votes the party has overall.

But the Tories say the first-past-the-post system normally brings more authority with it. While the party would gain regionally under proportional representation it would lose far more in its southern heartlands.

Michael McIntyre, leader of the Conservative group in North Tyneside, accused Labour of a last-minute conversion to electoral reform and warned of the difficulties David Cameron would have in selling the change to traditionalists.

“I don’t think we would be punished for working with the Lib Dems on this, co-operation is not a bad thing, but I don’t think we would want to just give it all away.

“It’s reasonable to try and form a stable Government with the Liberals and we should never close our mind but for a lot of us this is a point if principle.

“The feeling is we lost three general elections and we supported the first-past- the-post system. If we can do that when we lost we should certainly do so when we win.”