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For much of the last century, the Conservative party dominated politics because of the outdated first-past-the-post voting system, which is still in place. So it is no surprise that David Cameron has thrown everything at trying to maintain the status quo. The AV campaign has unveiled the real forces of conservatism in this country. The old guard is mortally afraid of a Yes vote. That's why they've gone into overdrive to try and defeat this once-in-a-generation chance to make our politics better (5 May elections, 3 May).
Most arguments used for opposing the alternative vote are wrong, misleading, patronising – or all three. AV preserves the principle of single member constituencies. For voters, it is as easy as listing 1, 2 and 3. Local elections in Scotland and assembly elections in Northern Ireland prove voters have no difficulty with it. Any fan of The X Factor is familiar with the principles. So why are the BNP and the Conservatives fighting so hard to stop the change? The answer is that they're afraid politics will change too.
So this is a hugely important, progressive moment. Anybody who wants a more modern democracy should seize it. We write as Liberal Democrats who respect what the Labour party can be – either as former members or as Liberal Democrats open to co-operation with Labour. Labour has been a party of reform and social justice. A party that wants a political system that ends the power of the conservative old guard.
This is a time for all those who want reform and fairness to stand together and defeat the old guard who think our politics is working fine – when in fact it is only working fine for them. AV is itself a small change. But it is an important step towards a fair and honest system representing people's real preferences. It gives voters more power to defeat bad MPs or bad governments. AV is a reform whose time has come.
Paddy Ashdown, Shirley Williams, Menzies Campbell MP and Charles Kennedy MP
• Nick Clegg (Report, 22 April) describes those sceptical about the deeply flawed AV system as "dinosaurs" and "vested interests" opposed to "pluralist politics". AV, first devised in 1871, is not exactly a trailblazer for modernity. If Nick Clegg genuinely wants a pluralist "new politics", it was ironic that he whipped Lib Dem MPs through the lobby last October to block 16- and 17-year-olds having a vote in the AV referendum. Indeed, while forging his new politics in the coalition negotiations, Clegg pushed somewhat harder, in the name of Lib Dem "vested interests", to get AV without a referendum than he did for Lib Dem election promises on tuition fees, police numbers and VAT. The evidence-free claim that AV would force MPs to "work harder" is not without irony. My average working week is around 70 hours. Do London Assembly members (Letters, 22 April) find their electoral system inspires them to work more than 70 hours a week?
Diana Johnson MP
Labour, Hull North
• Labour opponents of AV are sleepwalking into an almost permanent Conservative government, with their fantasy politics that, first, the coalition will break up, second, there would be a general election shortly after and, third, that the electoral map will remain roughly the same. The coalition agreement is for five years, and neither the Tories nor the Lib Dems have any good reason to invoke an election before then.
Most importantly, many constituencies will look radically different by 2015. There will be 50 fewer MPs. The number of voters in each constituency will have to be between approximately 72,000 and 81,000. Logically, one cannot complain about constituencies having roughly the same number of voters. A look at my own region, Yorkshire and the Humber, indicates many undersized Labour seats will have to rearrange borders and absorb significant numbers of perhaps hostile voters. Labour and the Lib Dems will have to fight harder to retain or win seats, but for the Tories life will be much easier. First past the post will make the Tory hegemony even stronger. Alan Johnson, Ed Miliband and others are in the Yes camp for very good reasons, including (unspoken) Labour's long-term survival.
Dr Tony McCobb
Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire