Proposed law to reform Westminster voting system narrowly clears first Commons test

Calls to reform the voting system for UK parliamentary elections have received a boost after MPs allowed a proposed law change to clear its first hurdle.

MPs voted 138 to 136, majority two, to allow the Elections (proportional representation) Bill to be introduced to the House of Commons for further consideration.

The Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, aims to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England.

Disproportionate

But the Bill is unlikely to progress in its current form due to a lack of parliamentary time to consider it at second reading on January 24.

Ms Olney said the existing first past the post system (FPTP) for parliamentary elections delivered two-thirds of the seats in the Commons to Labour despite the party only attracting around one-third of the votes cast on July 4.

She said: “Thanks to first past the post nearly 60% of people who voted in the general election in July are not represented in Parliament by the candidate that they voted for. This is the most disproportionate election result that this country has ever seen.”

The Lib Dem said 96 MPs were elected in July with more than 50% of the votes cast in their constituency compared with 421 at the 2019 election.

‘Unfair’

Ms Olney, who secured 55.4% of the votes cast in her Richmond Park constituency, said: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer the Labour Party won a landslide election victory securing 63% of the seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“This system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Under the existing FPTP system, voters select their preferred candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins.

Ms Olney proposed introducing a single transferable vote system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, explaining: “This system would protect the critical local link between MPs and their constituencies, which is so valuable in connecting individual voters with the parliament that makes decisions on their behalf.”

Conservative MP Lewis Cocking, who won his Broxbourne seat with 36.8% of the vote share, said FPTP should continue.

‘Complicated’

Mr Cocking, who was among the 78 Tories to vote against Ms Olney’s motion, said: “In our democracy it is those who win the most votes in each of our 650 constituencies (who) win those 650 constituencies.

“It cannot be denied that voters would be confronted with a far more complicated system if any type of proportional representation were to be introduced.”

Mr Cocking added: “The British people have made their opposition to this clear. In 2011, 13 million voted to retain the first past the post system and at the last general election neither of the largest two parties proposed a change in the electoral system.”

Responding to the vote, Welsh Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader David Chadwick MP said: “This is a historic day in the fight for fairer votes and we are grateful to all the MPs who backed it.

“Trust in our political system is broken following years of the Conservative Party riding roughshod over standards in public life.

“Fixing our broken electoral system, introducing fair votes across all elections in the UK, and making sure everyone’s voice matters is the best way to rebuild this trust.

“Today, as we have done for a century, Liberal Democrats are leading the fight for fair votes and making sure that no one can be ignored in our democracy.

“The Labour Government must now listen to the will of the House, make time for the legislation and make fairer votes a reality and we will be holding their feet to the fire to make this happen.”

The division list released after the vote showed 59 Labour MPs voted in the aye lobby and 50 Labour MPs voted against.

An analysis of the list showed two of the Labour MPs voted in both lobbies, a move traditionally regarded as a formal abstention.