North Labour MPs line up early in AV referendum battle
Campaigners in favour of the Alternative Vote begin their campaign on Gateshead's Millennium Bridge but many Labour MPs will oppose them.
2011 has barely begun and I am already getting a steady stream of e-mails from campaigners supporting or opposing a change in our voting system.
I doubt whether May's referendum on switching from First Past the Post to the has inspired much public interest yet (perhaps it never will), but it's certainly exercising the minds of our politicians.
As 2010 ended, .
That includes many from the North East.
In all, 14 have already said they'll campaign against the Alternative Vote or AV.
They are: Dave Anderson (Blaydon), Sir Stuart Bell (Middlesbrough), Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley), Jenny Chapman (Darlington), Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central), Pat Glass (NW Durham), Mary Glindon (North Tyneside), Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow), Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland W), Kevan Jones (North Durham), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), Grahame Morris (Easington), and Phil Wilson (Sedgefield).
What's striking is how hard it is to define this group as they come from all wings of the party, and range from veterans to newcomers.
Might they be united by self-interest? Perhaps they are worried their safe seats will suddenly become vulnerable under AV?
A deeper analysis shows there is little substance in that argument.
Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott is one of the North East Labour MPs who will campaign against AV.
, Labour would have lost Newcastle North and Durham City to the Lib Dems, but they would still have won all their other seats, and kept hold of Stockton South.
And so all of those from the North East currently signed-up would still have been MPs.
You have to conclude then that they are genuinely opposed to change rather than thinking about saving their own skins.
Having said that of course many might also be relishing the possibility of embarrassing the Lib Dems and undermining the Coalition by securing a no vote.
But might they also embarrass their own leader? .
It does raise the curious possibility of Labour MPs working with their Conservative counterparts but against their own leader.
He won't be entirely without support in the North though.
Just before Christmas, .
They included the Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman, and York's Hugh Bayley.
Several former northern MPs also signed up, including Lord Mandelson, Baroness (Joyce) Quin, and Chris Mullin.
Former Newcastle Council leader Lord Jeremy Beecham also signed the letter.
More MPs will almost certainly follow, and Lib Dems Sir Alan Beith, Ian Swales and Tim Farron will of course be campaigning in favour.
But I can't imagine the support of this or that politician holding much sway with the public.
Understandably then so far the Yes campaign has been keen to avoid looking too party political. It wants to become a people's campaign for "fair votes" even if in reality it will rely a lot on Lib Dem activists.
It has several events planned in North East pubs in the next few weeks to try and gather foot soldiers.
Expect them to continue to do that as long as the Lib Dems' popularity ratings remain so consistently poor. But also expect the No campaign to try and expose any links to Nick Clegg's party.
I'm Richard Moss, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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