ST ALBANS and neighbouring Watford would both be Lib Dem parliamentary seats rather than Conservative under the Alternative Vote (AV) method, a former MP living in Harpenden has calculated.

Dr Edmund Marshall, 70, of Roundwood Lane, who represented Goole in West Yorkshire for Labour between 1971 and 1983, spoke at a Lib Dem branch meeting in All Saints Church Hall, Batford last night, analysing May's General Election result across the county.

He concluded that rather than winning all 11 Hertfordshire seats with 50.36 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives would have been defeated by the Lib Dems in St Albans and Watford, and by Labour in Stevenage.

Under the Alternative Vote system, which will replace the First Past The Post method if backed in a national referendum in May, rather than choose one candidate, voters rank them by preference.

Dr Marshall, who left Labour for the SDP in 1984, admits AV would not produce an absolutely proportional result, but told last night's meeting: "The present electoral system is just not fair.

"The present working of the coalition government shows that overall majorities are not necessary to produce stable governments.

"While the introduction of AV will reduce the likelihood of overall Commons majorities, it will produce fairer representation and better government.

"In the referendum next May, all fair-minded people should support the introduction of Alternative Vote."