page_title: Referendums in the United Kingdom
section_title: 2011 Alternative Vote referendum
hierarchical_section_title: Referendums in the United Kingdom / National referendums / 2011 Alternative Vote referendum
context_page_description: Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. National referendums can be permitted by an Act of Parliament and are regulated through the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, but they are by tradition extremely rare due to the ancient principle of parliamentary sovereignty meaning that they cannot be constitutionally binding on either the Government or Parliament, although they usually have a persuasive political effect.
  Until the latter half of the twentieth century the concept of a referendum was widely seen in British politics as "unconstitutional" and an "alien device". As of 2020, only three national referendums have ever been held across the whole of the United Kingdom: in 1975, 2011 and most recently in 2016.
context_section_description: The alternative vote referendum, as part of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement drawn up after the 2010 general election, was a nationwide vote held on Thursday 5 May 2011 (the same date as local elections in many areas) to choose the method of electing MPs at subsequent general elections. The referendum concerned whether to replace the present "first-past-the-post" system with the "alternative vote" (AV) method. The voters were asked to vote yes or no on the question "At present, the UK uses the "first past the post" system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the "alternative vote" system be used instead?". It was the first nationwide referendum to be held for some thirty six years and was legislated for under the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and is to date the first and only UK-wide referendum to be held on a domestic issue. Turnout was low at just 42% nationally and was also marked by relatively low key campaigning. The two campaigning groups for the referendum was advocating a yes vote  Yes to Fairer Votes and advocating a no vote NOtoAV.
  AV was rejected by 67% of voters with all but ten of the 440 voting areas voted "No" and the proposed legislation to introduce AV which was subject to the referendum was repealed.
caption: All but ten areas voted "No"