Much ado about nothing, I fear.

I am waiting for the vote at 10pm. We must decide whether to amend the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill to commit the next Government to hold a referendum on the voting system - whether to replace First Past the Post with the Alternative Vote where voters rank their preferences: 1, 2 and 3 and so on instead of using a single X. The candidate with the lowest number of votes drops out and his or her votes are redistributed until one candidate gets over 50%.

The system is widely used in internal elections in political parties.

The Lords will throw out this part of the Bill or, just as likely, the Bill will run out of time as Parliament is dissolved for the General Election. And if the Conservatives win, they will promptly repeal the referendum commitment if it survives in the legislation.

Canada is in many ways a sister democracy. A Westminster system, First Past the Post, an unelected upper house. Two Canadian provinces have tried to change FPtP in recent years. In British Columbia in 2005 and again in 2009. In Ontario in 2007. In every case, voters stuck with what they knew and understood, holding on to nurse for fear of something worse.