"Don't let the Labour party say one more word about splitting the vote, in the forthcoming byelection or at any other time. With proportional representation, no one would ever need to worry about splitting the vote again. No one would need to choose the lesser evil to keep the greater evil out of office. We could vote for the parties we actually wanted. But the Labour government won't hear of it. It insists we retain the unfair, ridiculous first-past-the-post system, then blames us for the likely results. This is not because proportional representation is unpopular far from it. Last year's British Social Attitudes survey showed that 36% of people want to keep the electoral system as it is, while 60% want to change it. But as we are not allowed to vote on how we should vote, the decision is left in the hands of the corrupt old system's beneficiaries."
"In 2022, the Labour party conference voted in favour of proportional representation. At the end of 2024, so did a majority of MPs, including a majority of Labour MPs. Keir Starmer himself, while vying to become party leader, pointed out how unfair the current system is. But from the moment he was chosen, he refused to countenance any attempt to change it. Why? For the very reason he highlighted: that the system is unfair. First past the post allows the two traditional parties of government to threaten and cajole us, warning that we'll split the vote if we don't support them. The splitting-the-vote argument is not a result of the system. It is the point of the system."
Proportional representation would remove the need to worry about splitting the vote and prevent voters from having to choose a lesser evil to block a greater one. Voters could support parties they genuinely prefer instead of voting strategically. Labour insists on keeping first-past-the-post and then blames voters for its outcomes. Public opinion favors reform, with 60% wanting change versus 36% preferring the status quo. Labour conference and a majority of MPs supported proportional representation in 2022 and late 2024, but Keir Starmer refused to pursue reform after becoming leader. First-past-the-post structurally enforces two-party dominance and can produce disproportionate, potentially destabilising outcomes.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]