Date set for voting reform referendum met with opposition.

Tuesday 06 July 10

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday announced that a referendum on reform to the British electoral system will take place in May.

Even before the referendum has taken place it has been surrounded in controversy.

Mr Clegg’s decision to hold the referendum has been met with opposition regarding the day it will be held. 

The planned date the 5^th May is the same day devolved region elections will occur in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr Clegg insists that holding the referendum on the same day, as local elections will save millions of pounds, however, Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd argued that the planned date smacked of "contempt". 

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said "There is a real danger of the Scottish Parliamentary elections being overshadowed and the issues that really matter to the people of Scotland being eclipsed."

DUP MP William McCrea complained there were already two sets of elections in Northern Ireland on that day - the Assembly and local government elections - and asked if they were expected to move one.

The referendum on electoral reform was part of the coalition deal, however the Conservative party does not support plans to reform Britain’s electoral system, as the Conservatives will lose sits under a different electoral system.

 Tory MP Bernard Jenkin has argued that holding the referendum on the same day, as devolved elections is "artificially inflating the turnout". 

It is expected that the Tories will introduce amendments to ensure the referendum would only be binding if at least 40% of the electorate took part.

The UK has only ever held one national referendum before regarding membership of the EU in 1973 which was passed.