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Last time I checked, AV meant audiovisual. What's all this about a referendum?

AV stands for Alternative Vote. The Lib Dems want to replace the current 'first-past-the-post' method of electing MPs - so that they can have a shot at playing with the big boys without a coalition! There is going to be a referendum on 5 May to choose whether we want the proposed alternative system of STV.

STV? Er, that sounds painful...

I can see how your mind works! It stands for single transferable vote. Instead of picking just one candidate, voters would rank them in order of preference. First choices are counted first, and then if no one has more than 50 per cent of the vote, some second choices are taken into account, and so on until someone has more than half the votes.

So we're lining them up to vote them off one by one?

Well let's not get carried away, it won't be quite like Strictly! But it's certainly created quite a buzz - particularly over costs. Those campaigning for us to vote 'No' to the referendum say the poll itself will cost around £90 million, and switching to the new system will cost an extra £156 million. Of course, campaigners in the 'Yes' camp say this is all lies, damned lies and statistics.

So the gloves are off! But what's wrong with the current system?

The 'Yes' camp say too many votes are currently wasted. Elections are actually decided by a small number of voters in a handful of constituencies, where no party has a large majority. But supporters of the old system say it generally leads to a stable government.

You mean stable like the current government? Aren't they on different sides of the fence on this one?

Well, neither the Tories nor the Lib Dems actually included AV in their manifestos last year. But the Tories acquiesced to a referendum to get the Lib Dems on side during negotiations to form a government. Roll on 5 May!

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