YES! To Fairer Votes was a political campaign in the United Kingdom whose purpose was to persuade the public to vote in favour of the Alternative Vote (AV) in the referendum on Thursday, 5 May 2011. YES! To Fairer Votes was unsuccessful in changing the voting system, with only 32.1% of votes cast in favour.

YES! To Fairer Votes was a non-profit making organisation established as a company limited by guarantee called Yes In May 2011 Ltd. Its board was chaired by Katie Ghose (Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society). Other members were Pam Giddy (of Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust), Neal Lawson (of Compass), Vicky Seddon (of Unlock Democracy) and John Sharkey (of the Liberal Democrats).

The Guardian's analysis also showed that the YES! To Fairer Votes campaign had outspent the anti-AV campaign by £3.4m to £2.6m, with most of the funding coming from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the Electoral Reform Society (ERS). George Osborne the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer accused the ERS of having a vested interest in a yes vote, as their commercial subsidiary Electoral Reform Services Ltd (ERSL) was printing the postal ballots for the referendum. This later turned out to be false as the Press Complaints Commission ruling proved George Osborne to be incorrect. The Sun and Mail subsequently had to print retractions.

Margaret Mary Beckett (née Jackson; born 15 January 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death. She later served in the Cabinet under Tony Blair, most notably being appointed Foreign Secretary in 2006.

Beckett was first elected to Parliament in 1974 and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat in 1979 but returned to the House of Commons in 1983 and became a senior member of the Labour Party. She was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992 and was briefly its leader in 1994 following the premature death of John Smith, the first woman to occupy either role.

After Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, Beckett became a member of Tony Blair's Cabinet. Initially the President of the Board of Trade, she was later the Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In 2006, Blair appointed her Foreign Secretary, making her the first woman to hold the position, and—after Margaret Thatcher—the second woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State.

Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is the British Liberal Democrat Leader since 2007 and currently the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord President of the Council (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform) in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister. Clegg has been the Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2007, and a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Sheffield Hallam since 2005. He was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and an award winning journalist for the Financial Times.

Clegg was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 general election and became the Liberal Democrats' Home Affairs spokesperson in 2006. Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister following the 2010 general election, when the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government with the Conservative Party. As well as his parliamentary roles, Clegg has contributed to many pamphlets and books on political issues. He has also had a large number of jobs, including being a skiing instructor and working in the office of a bank in Helsinki.

Chris Foote Wood (born Christopher Wood, Prestbury, Cheshire, December 15, 1940) is a Liberal Democrat politician in County Durham, England.

Foote Wood is notable for having contested a large number of public elections at all levels. He has stood for Parliament seven times as a Liberal, later Liberal Democrat (Feb 1974 – Newcastle North; Oct 1974 – Middlesbrough; 1979 & 2010 – Durham City; 1983 & 1987 North West Durham; 2001 & 2005 Bishop Auckland) and the European Parliament five times (1979 & 1984 County Durham and Blaydon; 1999 #1 on North East list; 2004 #2 on North East list, 2009 No. 2 on North East list). He also stood as Mayor of Middlesbrough, 2011. Foote Wood was a district councillor in Bishop Auckland for 40 years, from 1967 to 2007 and was Leader of Wear Valley District Council for six years. He was also a member of Durham County Council for 12 years, Vice-Chairman of the North East Regional Assembly and a member of the EU Committee of the Regions, one of the three elected councillors representing the North East on this body and the first LibDem to do so.

Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC (born 27 February 1941), usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat.

After service as a Royal Marine and as an intelligence officer for the UK security services, Ashdown was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 1983 to 2001, and leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 until August 1999; later he was the international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 27 May 2002 to 30 May 2006, following his vigorous lobbying for military action against Yugoslavia in the 1990s. A gifted polyglot, Ashdown is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and other languages. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) in the New Year Honours 2006.

Ashdown is the eldest of seven children, and was born in New Delhi in British India, to a family of soldiers and colonial administrators who spent their lives in India. His father was a lapsed Catholic, and his mother a Protestant. His mother was a QA nurse. Ashdown's father, John, was an Indian Army officer in the 14th Punjab Regiment and the Indian Army Service Corps. During the retreat to Dunkirk in May 1940, John Ashdown ignored an order to abandon the Indian troops under his command, instead leading them to the port and on to one of the last ships to leave, without losing a single man. Although court martialled for disobeying orders, he was exonerated, and by the end of the War had risen to the rank of colonel.