Electoral Reform
It is a pity that Lord Ullswater has had to tell the Prime Minister that the Parliamentary Conference on Electoral Reform has wasted its time. The repre- sentatives of the parties in the House of Commons showed no signs of being able to " confer " in the sense of being open to give and take. The Labour repre- sentatives would not hear of Proportional Representation with the Single Transferable Vote. The Liberals were solid against the adoption of the Alternative Vote in single member constituencies. Thc Conservatives would not agree to the Alternative Vote in any circumstances. The reform, which was probably in everybody's mind though upon nobody's timid tongue, is that, to reduce the unwieldy quantity and perhaps to improve the quality-
of our swollen hermaphrodite register, no new voter should be registered before he or she reaches the age of twenty-five or twenty-six; * *
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