Ed Miliband has been hit by a growing Labour revolt

Ed Miliband has been hit by a growing Labour revolt against his support for a change in the voting system as more than 200 Labour MPs and peers back the existing first-past-the-post process.

Writing in The Independent today, the shadow Health Secretary John Healey becomes the most senior Shadow Cabinet member to come out against electoral reform. He brands the alternative vote (AV) system, on which a referendum will be held on 5 May, as "perverse".

Mr Healey, who came second in the elections among Labour MPs to the Shadow Cabinet last October, said the introduction of AV would make Nick Clegg the "kingmaker" in any hung parliament.