O'Donnell expressed his unhappiness with the decision to hold a referendum on whether the Alternative Vote should replace traditional first-past-the-post for Westminster elections on the same day as the Scottish parliamentary election. He also complained that the Scottish Lib Dem group had voted tactically against the SNP's proposed policy on minimum pricing on alcohol, rather than on principle. In 2010, the policy failed to win enough support in parliament to progress, despite support from medical, health, police and victim support groups. He wrote: "I have fought the leadership as hard as I could, but I am just too tired to do it any more... This is not the same party I joined, full of enthusiasm, all those years ago... I can no longer be party to the control freakery, the 'image is everything' attitude, and the dictatorial style of doing things... It is a party I no longer want to be part of and neither should other principled Liberals."