So it looks like a massive No2AV.
I voted No, but am I pleased with the result? Not especially, no. Yes it is the result I voted for, but only because I was presented with an alternative that I found even less palatable. I voted for the lesser of two evils as I saw it.
Was the No campaign persuasive? I don’t think so, in fact I would say that the Yes campaign did more damage to itself with some of the arguments it put forward. The campaign has seen some pretty stupid things said on either side, but unfortunately that is par for the course in modern, sound bite ridden, negative politics, and the result has been voted in by a poor turnout, even if it was better than some predicted.
So I sit here this evening casting an occasional glance at the unfolding vote with no sense of pleasure let alone satisfaction. And not just because of what I have just said, but also because there a few people I count as friends who were as passionate about a yes vote as I was opposed to it. As a Scottish pal once said to me, victory is never sweet when it is at the expense of friends. Their loss gives me no pleasure.
The Voice of the Bloke at the Back 