While Alistair Darling was a member of the Plant commission on electoral systems in the early 1990s, it is not the case, as the obituary initially said, that it recommended proportional representation for the House of Commons.
Various views were taken by its members, and I was its secretary. It was decided to support the Supplementary Vote – a variation on the Alternative Vote rather than a fully proportional system. To the best of my recollection, Alistair, who played an active role in our proceedings, was content to go along with this.
