Speculation of early embarrassment for the coalition came to naught as the coalition's Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill passed its second reading in the commons with a government majority of 59.
The second reading was predicted to be a success although the session threw up the certainty of significant trouble at the committee stages. Labour may coalesce with the disgruntled faction of the Tory right spearheaded by David Davies and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs to put back the referendum date from 5 May 2001 to 8 September, with an early day motion already slated to that effect.
The two main parties both hit out at elements of the Bill that they see preventing them from winning future elections. Labour MPs denounced the proposed boundary changes in the Bill as a transparent bid to gerrymander, while Conservative MP Gary Streeter said AV means outright Conservative governments may become a thing of the past.
Nick Clegg had to do most of the defending, claiming the bill would "restore people's faith in the way they vote for their MPs". Jack Straw hit back at Clegg's purported "high-minded" ideals with the most stinging rebuke of the evening, denouncing the Bill as "the worst kind of political skulduggery for narrow party advantage".
