Lib Dems fear Royal wedding date will scupper vote reform fight

SENIOR Lib Dems were privately furious last night after the timing of the Royal wedding dealt a serious blow to their campaign to change Westminster’s voting system.

Mr Clegg s aides last night insisted he was relaxed about the wedding date Mr Clegg’s aides last night insisted he was “relaxed” about the wedding date

The April 29 date falls less than a week before the national referendum on electoral reform on May 5.

Campaigners fear the wedding and bank holiday weekend will scupper any hopes of turning the voting issue into a major debate.

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They now expect the Royal event to dominate the media over the weekend, leaving little chance for the move to replace Westminster’s first-past-the-post voting system with the “alternative vote” system.

But David Cameron yesterday dismissed suggestions that the timing of the event would interfere with the referendum campaign.

“People are perfectly capable of seeing the difference between a Royal wedding, a happy day, a day of celebration, and a referendum campaign and a local election campaign,” he said. But supporters of the campaign – being spearheaded by Lib Dem Deputy PM Nick Clegg – believe there is little chance of building any momentum in the final days leading up to the referendum.

They fear a lack of public interest will mean the referendum will see a dismal turnout, wrecking any hope of electoral reform at Westminster for a generation. Some Lib Dems were last night speculating whether Mr Cameron, who opposes changing the voting system, did not raise any objections to the wedding date because of the likely impact on the referendum campaign.

One described the clash as “dreadfully wrong”.

Mr Clegg’s aides last night insisted he was “relaxed” about the wedding date.

One said: “He believes it is one day that should be entirely separate from politics.”

A senior Royal aide said Mr Cameron was “very content with the selection of the date”.

A Downing Street spokeswoman added: “The date was entirely a decision for the Royal Family.”

The decision to hold a referendum was part of the coalition deal between the Tories and Lib Dems, despite many Conservatives opposing a change to the voting system at Westminster.

Under the proposed AV system voters would rate candidates in order of preference.

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