Introduction

We are at a pivotal moment in history both nationally and globally. There is huge potential to make positive changes in the way that society functions and the need to adapt is more pressing than ever given the challenges ahead. At the same time, the public’s trust in the government is faltering. Labour should take advantage of this opportunity by creating a values-led, positive vision of the future and resolve to regain this trust. It’s time for Labour to support Proportional Representation (PR) in the UK.

The significance of this change should not be underplayed: we are talking about reforming the current voting system, known as First-Past-the-Post, which has been the UK’s primary method in place for well over 100 years. The system is ingrained in our collective psyche and it will take strong leadership and sustained willpower to push for this sorely-needed change, as well as a new, more collaborative, form of politics.

There has been a rising tide of support for electoral reform within the Labour party in recent years (more on this below). This opportunity should be seized now because it may not come again for a generation.

Why Labour?

Labour’s support, as the main opposition party, is critical to drive PR forward. The Conservatives have won over a decade of power under FPTP and so have little incentive to change our broken system. This isn’t about party values: it is about holding onto power. In fact, there has been support for electoral reform within the Conservative party dating back to at least the 1970s.

PR is not a party-political issue and is supported on all sides of the political spectrum, as shown by the cross-party PR Alliance organised by the Make Votes Matter (MVM) campaign. This is about doing what is right by the people and acting in their interests. All parties, the Conservatives included, should support PR because it is the right thing to do for our country.

Why do we need PR?

Fix an unrepresentative system

In August, Graham Stringer, Labour MP, wrote in Labourlist “the possibility of electing a majority Labour government becomes negligible if we change to PR” and “No party in UK elections has ever reached even 50% of the vote” (actually the Conservatives won 61% of the vote in 1931). What is this saying, exactly?

In practice, this means we usually have a majority single-party government with less than 50% of the vote. Most recently, the Conservatives had a “landslide victory” in 2019 by achieving 56% of seats with only 44% of votes by the public (see chart below). A majority, therefore, voted against the current UK government. Yet under our current system, the Conservatives have complete power to make laws in the House of Commons. In order to achieve the same result under PR, they would have needed an additional 4 million votes.

The picture becomes even more clearly distorted when we look at the results by region.

We need Labour to lead with positive values. If the tables were turned and Labour had complete power under these circumstances it would still be wrong. This is a great opportunity for Labour to show their principles at a time when the Conservatives cannot argue that Labour only supports PR when it would benefit them directly.

Many people admire strong and principled leaders who stick to their principles even when it is not for personal gain. Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP) has openly expressed support for PR despite her party arguably benefiting the most from FPTP (see comparison below). In the 2019 general election, the SNP won an impressive 81% of Scottish seats despite only securing 45% of the vote.

FPTP tends to lead to two dominant parties transferring power back and forth and we see this effect in other similar systems such as in the US and Canada. Votes for smaller parties are not fairly represented. FPTP does not even guarantee that the winning party has the most votes and the opposite occurred in 1951 and 1974 (and more recently in the US in 2016).

The current system encourages the public to vote not based on whom they want to win, but rather to prevent the party they dislike more from getting elected – a phenomenon called Negative or Tactical Voting. In 2019, a YouGov poll estimated that 32% of the electorate voted tactically in this way. Electoral Pacts, where parties agree with each other to stand down in certain areas to avoid splitting the vote, are also becoming more common. We need a system that accurately reflects the government people want.

Ensure every vote counts

There are millions of people in so-called “safe seats” (where the party in power has not changed for many years) who are deeply frustrated by this unrepresentative system. This happens on both sides of the political spectrum so it is understandable why so many feel disenfranchised and, as a result, disassociate from political life.

Instead, politicians focus their attention where they have the best chance of being elected under FPTP – in so-called “Marginal seats”. These are the relatively small handful of seats which tend to switch parties from election to election; often by a very small margin. 

Labour’s support for PR could be an important step to reforming this system, ensuring that all votes are important and not just those in a small minority of communities.

Collaboration: redefining strength

Many in the UK lament the way that politics is off-putting, confrontational and polarising: it is telling that the two opposing sides in the House of Commons are the length of two swords apart. We are stronger when we work together.

Last year, John Spellar, Labour MP, wrote in Labourlist “The empowerment of small and fringe parties under PR constrains the ability to govern.” This echoes the false belief that FPTP leads to stronger governments because laws can be pushed through by a single party with no incentive to compromise.

A majority of democracies in the world use PR and many have been described as strong and even aspirational. New Zealand is one such example, whose handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was widely praised, and they also have one of the best gender splits in government with 49% of MPs being female in 2020. New Zealand voted to do away with FPTP in 1993, replacing it with the Mixed-Member Proportional system (MMP), and they haven’t looked back since.

It’s time for Labour and other progressive parties to focus on the values that unite them: a fairer, kinder, greener, more equal and more representative society. Studies have shown that countries that use PR produce a better gender balance and also have lower income inequality on average compared to those that use FPTP (source). It’s necessary to find areas of mutual agreement and collaborate with other groups who share this vision. PR is just the first step on this journey.

Restore trust

According to a recent study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), almost half of the UK population (49%) actively do not trust the government. It is more optimistic to note that as a nation we do tend to trust each other: the same ONS study above found that three-quarters (75%) of the UK public generally trust each other. If the people were more fairly represented we could start to restore our trust in the former.

PR could help reignite the inspiration for change in the significant part of the population who are disengaged, many of whom have opted out of political life entirely. Long-term studies have shown that governments elected by PR outperform those elected by FPTP in terms of voter satisfaction and average turnout.

Haven’t the people already spoken?

Some argue that “the people have already spoken” on the subject of PR and refer back to the 2011 referendum held by the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition, which asked whether the UK should opt for the Alternative Vote (AV) system. Taken at surface level, this argument sounds reasonable, since AV is a more representative system of voting than FPTP. The “no” side won with 68% of the vote but with a very low turnout of only 42%, suggesting that the public was undecided. It should be noted, however, that AV and PR are not one and the same. Additionally, there were unfortunate circumstances surrounding the vote that had nothing to do with PR. 

The choice of AV resulted from an unhappy compromise between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems. Even Nick Clegg, the leader of the Lib Dems at the time and whose party pushed for a PR referendum, was quoted as calling the choice “a miserable little compromise”. There are many forms of PR in existence, each with certain merits and disadvantages (albeit most of which are a significant improvement on FPTP) and this choice should have been given to the people to decide – for example, with a citizen’s assembly. Make Votes Matter’s Good Systems Agreement is a good place to start as it sets out the key principles to consider when choosing a voting system.

The Conservatives campaigned against the motion and a smear campaign personally attacking Nick Clegg certainly did not help the cause. Additionally, Labour failed to use the opportunity to stand up in favour of PR and, as such, was partly responsible for its failure. This was because Labour falsely believed they needed FPTP to get into power. 

It’s time to move on from this tired old argument and learn from the mistakes of the past. Labour should embrace PR in its manifesto so that a vote for Labour is a vote in favour of reform. 

Why now?

Save the United Kingdom

It is tempting to argue “I agree with PR but now is not the right time” but this is too complacent. Our current system of voting could play a role in the real risk that Scotland and/or Northern Ireland may choose to leave the UK, and in such a case we may need a new name as the United Kingdom may seem somewhat ironic. 

The SNP are over-represented in our government because of the FPTP system and therefore they get to set the agenda in Scotland. This puts them in a strong position to call for another referendum on whether Scotland should remain part of the UK (after the previous one in 2014). A majority in Scotland, 62%, voted against leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum and there are likely many who would consider leaving the UK if it meant that they could rejoin the EU instead. 

Additionally, if PR had been used in 2019, the Conservatives would have needed the support of another party to form a majority government. Perhaps the need to collaborate with other parties, such as the Liberal Democrats or the DUP, would have led to a better outcome post-Brexit and avoided the very unpopular border checks in the Irish Sea. It is not entirely unrealistic to be concerned that the very future of our nation is at risk.

Seize the opportunity

In the last year, there have been several key events within the Labour party that suggest support for PR is gaining traction:

• Electoral Reform was one of the most popular issues for debate at the Labour Party Conference last year and a vote yielded a promising result with 80% of local party delegates voting in favour.
• The support of the unions is necessary to gain party approval and last year this was lacking. Things have moved on since then. Notably, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in October 2021: “Today, Unite policy conference voted to support proportional representation for the first time in our history… Our political class has failed working people and our system is broken. It is time to change our democracy” (source: Chartist, Trade Union Supplement 2022). Similarly, CWU and Unison have changed positions on the subject.
• Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform (LCER) has encouraged local Labour parties to send in Early Day Motions in support of another debate on Electoral Reform at this year’s Labour conference later this month and, if it receives enough requests, a vote is likely to yield a result in favour.
• Influential figures within the Labour party have recently come out in favour of PR. Andy Burnham, Labour Mayor of Manchester, publicly displayed his support for PR and electoral reform in this persuasive piece for the Guardian. It’s well worth a read!

There is simply no time for in-fighting or procrastination: if Labour let this opportunity slip, another party will surely come in and take the spotlight instead. This isn’t just scare-mongering: UKIP was arguably the most successful opposition to the Conservative government since 2010, despite having almost no representation in Westminster. If one takeaway can be learnt from their campaign, it is that having a clear focus and being consistent pays off.

In the event that neither the Conservatives nor Labour achieves more than 50% of the seats in the next general election the support of smaller parties may be needed – in which case PR will likely be a sticking point prior to any agreement. It would be bad policy for Labour to wait to use PR as a bargaining tool in a so-called “Progressive Alliance” and risk another Conservative majority under FPTP. Instead, Labour should stick to its values and stand up in support of reform now.

How can I get involved?

There are plenty of ways for the public, Labour voters or otherwise, to show their support:

• Ask your local Labour party to send an Early Day Motion in favour of debating Electoral Reform prior to this year’s Labour Party Conference on 25-28 September. A vote in favour at the conference will help to encourage Labour’s leadership to rethink their current stance on PR.
• Labour members can join Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform (LCER).
• Anyone can join Make Votes Matter (MVM) and if you have time to give they are always looking for volunteers. Their cross-party PR Alliance has set out a roadmap to make PR happen.
• Ask your local council to sign-up to Councils for PR, a cross-party campaign started this year to get councils to actively support a motion to use PR for general elections. Several councils have already signed up to the campaign.
• Join any one of a growing number of other campaigns for electoral reform such as the Electoral Reform Society, which is a long-standing movement and, as such, has plenty of useful resources. Get PR Done has a lively social media campaign, amongst others.
• For those on social media, make your support known with pro-PR hashtags such as #Labour4PR, #makevotesmatter and #GetPRDone. Short videos are a particularly effective communication method in this digital age.

More people are standing up for a fairer, more representative system of government than ever.

Final thoughts

The Labour party meet for their annual conference again this month and I am optimistic that PR will be up for debate. Labour should seize this moment and bravely lead the way for a brighter vision of government and our country. Labour is a party with strong values – and what better way to show this than to support PR, a system known to more fairly represent citizens? This is a great opportunity and one not to be missed!

Edit: The original version of this article stated “AV is a more proportional system of voting than FPTP”. This has been corrected to say that AV is more “representative” system (since it allows for ranked choices but is not necessarily more proportional).