The only other country in Europe apart from the UK which uses a First Past The Post voting system to elect it’s government is Belarus - and you could say that this speaks for itself. Surely we should have fair voting here?
Across the UK, elections with a proportional representation system are becoming the norm – but not for the government of the country. Millions of votes have been cast across the UK using PR for Great Britain’s devolved elected institutions – the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and London Assembly.
With PR you can vote for the candidate you really want to see elected – there is no need for ‘tactical voting’ or fearing a ‘wasted vote’. It makes us as voters far more powerful – we can vote for which person and party we genuinely support. It makes the main parties nervous for exactly this reason: first past the post suits them. It suits them when they are in power – or think they have a good chance of power. Under the current system many votes make no difference at all – the votes which make a difference are in marginal constituencies. But all votes should matter! And with PR, they would matter.
In the 2019 General Election the Conservatives got 44% of the vote, 56% of the seats in the House of Commons and 100% of the power. Whether or not you like the Conservatives this does not look democratic.
It is well past the time when we should change the electoral system to make it more democratic, and to make votes matter. I have emailed my MP about this – but he didn’t like the idea of PR…….and I can see why. Fair votes might put his ‘safe seat’ at risk.
What do you think is the fairest voting system? And if you agree with me – lets send our MPs emails asking for fair votes! And support the organisations out there working for fair votes: The Electoral Reform Society and Make Votes Matter – they are easy to find on the internet. What do you think?
