Stephen Tall

Poor Ed Miliband. In his first speech to the Labour party conference he tried his valiant best to show that Labour had changed, that it was a party which could re-claim the progressive liberalism it so happily junked in the Blair/Brown years.

No more ID cards, detention without trial, control orders etc — so said Ed. And yes to electoral reform in the shape of the alternative vote — so said Ed.

Unfortunately for Ed, not many of his MPs are listening to him. Today, the No2AV campaign proudly announced that over 100 of Labour’s 257 MPs would be opposing electoral reform in the May referendum: you can read the list here, re-printed for the benefit of posterity below.

It’s only fair to note that Ed is not totally alone in the Labour party in continuing to back electoral reform — there is a Labour Yes! campaign here, and eight of the shadow cabinet are reported to favour sticking with their manifesto promise to introduce the alternative vote. But the lukewarmness of the Labour echelons show how shallow is their commitment to reforming the political system.

Here is the list of Labour MPs who believe the voters shouldn’t enjoy the choice of ranking their candidates in order of preference (except when it comes to Labour leadership elections, of course: that’s totally different):

David Anderson, Blaydon
Ian Austin, Dudley North
Adrian Bailey, West Bromwich West
Gordon Banks, Ochil and South Perthshire
Margaret Beckett, Derby South
Stuart Bell, Middlesbrough
Joe Benton, Bootle
Clive Betts, Sheffield South East
Hazel Blears, Salford and Eccles
David Blunkett, Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
Russell Brown, Dumfries and Galloway
David Cairns, Inverclyde
Ronnie Campbell, Blyth Valley
Jenny Chapman, Darlington
Katy Clark, North Ayrshire and Arran
Tom Clarke, Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
Ann Clwyd, Cynon Valley
Vernon Coaker, Gedling
David Crausby, Bolton North East
Mary Creagh, Wakefield
John Cryer, Leyton and Wanstead
Jim Cunningham, Coventry South
Margaret Curran, Glasgow East
Simon Danczuk, Rochdale
Ian Davidson, Glasgow South West
Geraint Davies, Swansea West
Jim Dobbin, Heywood and Middleton
Thomas Docherty, Dunfermline and West Fife
Brian H. Donohoe, Central Ayrshire
Julie Elliott, Sunderland Central
Louise Ellman, Liverpool, Riverside
Natascha Engel, North East Derbyshire
Chris Evans, Islwyn
Jim Fitzpatrick, Poplar and Limehouse
Robert Flello, Stoke-on-Trent South
Caroline Flint, Don Valley
Yvonne Fovargue, Makerfield
Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh East
Pat Glass, North West Durham
Mary Glindon, North Tyneside
Paul Goggins, Wythenshawe and Sale East
Tom Greatrex, Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Kate Green, Stretford and Urmston
Andrew Gwynne, Denton and Reddish
David Hamilton, Midlothian
Tom Harris, Glasgow South
John Healey, Wentworth and Dearne
Mark Hendrick, Preston
Stephen Hepburn, Jarrow
David Heyes, Ashton-under-Lyne
Meg Hillier, Hackney South and Shoreditch
Julie Hilling, Bolton West Joan Walley, Stoke-on-Trent North
Margaret Hodge, Barking Dave Watts, St Helens North
Sharon Hodgson, Washington and Sunderland West
Jim Hood, Lanark and Hamilton East
Kelvin Hopkins, Luton North
George Howarth, Knowsley
Lindsay Hoyle, Chorley
Tristram Hunt, Stoke-on-Trent Central
Cathy Jamieson, Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Diana Johnson, Kingston upon Hull North
Helen Jones, Warrington North
Kevan Jones, North Durham
Eric Joyce, Falkirk
Gerald Kaufman, Manchester, Gorton
Alan Keen, Feltham and Heston
Ian Lavery, Wansbeck
Ivan Lewis, Bury South
Ian Lucas, Wrexham
Denis MacShane, Rotherham
Steve McCabe, Birmingham, Selly Oak
Michael McCann, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
Siobhain McDonagh, Mitcham and Morden
Alan Meale, Mansfield
Ian Mearns, Gateshead
Alun Michael, Cardiff South and Penarth
Andrew Miller, Ellesmere Port and Neston
Austin Mitchell, Great Grimsby
Graeme Morrice, Livingston
Grahame Morris, Easington
George Mudie, Leeds East
Meg Munn, Sheffield, Heeley
Paul Murphy, Torfaen
Ian Murray, Edinburgh South
Fiona O’Donnell, East Lothian
Albert Owen, Ynys Môn
Toby Perkins, Chesterfield
Yasmin Qureshi, Bolton South East
Rachel Reeves, Leeds West
Linda Riordan, Halifax
John Robertson, Glasgow North West
Frank Roy, Motherwell and Wishaw
Barry Sheerman, Huddersfield
Jim Sheridan, Paisley and Renfrewshire North
Gavin Shuker, Luton South
Dennis Skinner, Bolsover
Angela Smith, Penistone and Stocksbridge
Nick Smith, Blaenau Gwent
John Spellar, Warley
Graham Stringer, Blackley and Broughton
Gisela Stuart, Birmingham, Edgbaston
Gerry Sutcliffe, Bradford South
Mark Tami, Alyn and Deeside
Emily Thornberry, Islington South and Finsbury
Karl Turner, Kingston upon Hull East
Derek Twigg, Halton
Keith Vaz, Leicester East
Chris Williamson, Derby North
Phil Wilson, Sedgefield
David Winnick, Walsall North
David Wright, Telford