Electoral reform protest in Trafalgar Square and Smith Square

Today, as Nick Clegg and his party talked behind closed doors about the possibility of a Tory/Lib Dem coalition (ConDem, thank you Phil), around 1000 protesters led by Billy Bragg and electoral reform coalition Take Back Parliament, marched from Trafalgar Square to Smith Square where the talks were taking place to, as one protester put it: "remind Nick Clegg that electoral reform is a key issue and that he should not sell out to any of the other parties."

The chants of: "Fair votes now!" and: "Make votes count!" rang out across central London as angry citizens called for change to the current "first past the post" system.

After speechs from Bragg (and a song) and head of the Electoral Reform Society Andrew Burns, and a skit featuring the slaying of the Rupert Murdoch News Corpse dragon in Trafalgar Square, the demonstartion moved past the Houses of Parliament to Smith Square, outside the building where Clegg and other senior Lib Dems are holed up working out how to make a "ConDem" coalition work. On the way a minor scuffle nearly broke out between Bragg and a group of anti-capitalists who tried to hi-jack the protest, marching in the middle of the road holding a big banner saying "Capitalism isn't working." It all calmed down very quickly however, and Bragg later jokingly asked their leader: "Did you get dressed in the dark this morning?"

When we made it to Smith Square (complete with police escort), there were already a legion of journalists and cameramen hanging around outside. When Nick Clegg eventually came out to speak to everyone, they had to be pushed back. Some of the crowd started chanting: "Move the press," until they were reminded by the organisers that if the press weren't there, there wouldn't be a great amount of coverage. This prompted some to start chanting: "Just Move Sky," which may have been a response to Kay Burley's earlier comments: http://tinyurl.com/34d6jzh

Clegg thanked the crowd, and spoke about how: "Reforming politics is one of the reasons I went into politics." adding, "It is in the interests of everyone in Great Britain for us to use this opportunity to usher in a new politics after the discredited politics of the past." He then urged them to continue their campaign for a new and better politics.

Overall it was a reasonable success. The point of the protest was made known, got plenty of exposure and it got a response from Nick Clegg. And on a personal note I met Billy Bragg, a hero of mine. Hopefully Nick Clegg will take on board the message of this protest and not sell himself out to either party.


A short video of the protesters on my crappy phone camera. The chant is: "No more wasted votes."