The country needs electoral reform – and Labour has the chance to be on the right side of this argument
Makerfield by-election on 18 June (Associated Press/Alamy)
4 min read
First-past-the-post is failing. Representatives are being elected on 20 per cent of the vote and less. That is not a democratic mandate.
This fact and the local election results definitively proved the argument that first-past-the-post ‘keeps out the extremists’ is simply no longer true.
The change from a two-party system to one of five or more parties doesn’t seem to be a blip, so the problem with first-past-the-post is not going to go away. In the 1950s two parties –
Labour and Conservatives – took over 90 per cent of the vote but this has been in long-term, sustained decline. In 2024, that figure was 58 per cent. For decades, first-past-the-post hid this decline, delivering MPs and governments on lower and lower vote shares. But we’re now reaching a tipping point that the government cannot afford to ignore: this is an existential challenge and we must adapt rapidly.
Andy Burnham is a strong supporter of proportional representation – he backs a national commission on electoral reform and a manifesto commitment. The country cannot afford further delay and inaction. If he becomes prime minister, we call on him to show his vision for the future of our country and our politics by launching a commission as a matter of urgency.
If May’s results were repeated at a general election, five parties would win over 15 per cent of the vote nationally. First-past-the-post has now become a chaos multiplier. Our governments, prime ministers and ministers last years less on average than our democratic allies who use systems based on proportional representation (PR).
Policymaking suffers too. Under PR, there is a hard-wired incentive for parties to set out a coherent vision and win votes through policy that benefits most people across the country. But electioneering under first-past-the-post has seen the reverse incentive: in a fractured electorate, parties are increasingly encouraged to make policy for a handful of people in a handful of places, whose votes matter more because of their postcode.
This is something precious: an issue that unites supporters from every part of the Labour movement through our shared belief in fairness and democracy. Within the party there has been a sea change in support for electoral reform. Labour’s rank and file has recognised that political inequality at the ballot box drives inequality elsewhere – in policymaking, in workers’ rights, in opportunity. Three quarters of unions, two-thirds of members and a new generation of Labour MPs support electoral reform.
Three quarters of unions, two-thirds of members and a new generation of Labour MPs support electoral reform
Over 140 MPs have now signed MP Alex Sobel’s amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to call for a commission on electoral reform. Labour MPs are leading the charge – over 80, almost a third of backbench Labour MPs – have signed so far. We are proud to be among them.
A commission would allow the public, politicians and experts, to have a meaningful national conversation about what sort of electoral system we want to see and discuss the trade-offs inevitable in choosing one system over another.
To continue with no plan for change to a rotten system would be the height of complacency and recklessness. We only need to look at the US to find a model for democratic decline under a majoritarian system. To be fit for the future, democracy must be actively maintained and constantly renewed. The APPG for Fair Elections – the largest group in Parliament – has developed terms of reference that set out how a modern national commission on electoral reform could be run.
Labour still has a chance to be on the right side of this argument, rather than tying itself to a sinking status quo. Our ask is a sensible and moderate one: look at the evidence. Involve experts. Listen to voters – and rebuild a system which truly represents all of them. Labour has always led the charge for a fair democracy. We still can.
Andy MacNae is Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen and Lizzi Collinge is Labour MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale
