Residents in Epping Forest have joined the rest of the UK in voting overwhelmingly to reject changing the way MPs are elected to the House of Commons. Nationally, 19.1m people voted in the referendum (41%), where in Epping Forest 36,773 (39%) of a possible 95,778 turned out to vote and the result locally was 77% (28,240) voted “No” and 23% (8,533) voted “Yes”. Voters in Epping Forest voted more strongly than the national results, which showed 32% voting “Yes” and 68% voting “No”.
The result was seen as a massive blow to the Liberal Democrat Party nationally. Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Lib Dems explained: “I wish I could say this was a photo finish but it isn’t; the result is very clear. I'm a passionate supporter of political reform but when the answer is as clear as this, you have got to accept it."
Epping Forest MP, Eleanor Laing, has welcomed the overwhelming “No” vote in the Alternative Vote referendum in Epping Forest. Mrs Laing said: "I'm particular pleased that the result in Epping Forest has been so
overwhelming. We had a very respectable turnout in Epping Forest. I am not surprised at this because I know that large numbers of people do care about preserving our effective democratic system. I have campaigned and worked in Parliament against AV not just for the last few months but for many years so I am delighted that the people have spoken and that and the issue of changing our voting system is now dead for 20 years."
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