The report also calls for a clampdown on dark money in politics and a requirement for social media companies to be transparent about how they handle ‘legal but harmful’ content, including disinformation.
MPs from across the political divide have come together to issue a cross-party call for Britain’s First Past the Post voting system to be scrapped.
The new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Elections is calling on the government to establish a ‘National Commission for Electoral Reform’ to allow citizens, alongside experts, to recommend a fair and democratic replacement for First Past the Post.
Campaign group Labour for a New Democracy, which has been working closely with the APPG, says it is proud to be able to announce that a majority of the APPG’s over 100 members are Labour MPs, showing widespread support within the parliamentary party for major political reform.
The call for the establishment of a National Commission comes at the same time as the publication of a report by the APPG-Free But Not Fair: British elections and how to restore trust in politics-which also found that 64% of the public believe the government should address the flaws in the First Past the Post electoral system before the next general election.
The report also calls for a clampdown on dark money in politics and a requirement for social media companies to be transparent about how they handle ‘legal but harmful’ content, including disinformation.
On the need for electoral reform it states: “A broad political consensus has emerged: parties with a combined 500 MPs (77%), including Labour, are in agreement that FPTP is a flawed system that is causing distrust in politics.
“New polling has found almost two thirds (64%) of the public believe the government should address these flaws before the next general election. There is now record and majority public support for changing to a proportional voting system, particularly among those who trust politics.”
The report calls for a National Commission for Electoral Reform with a ‘mandate to recommend a fair and democratic voting system in which every vote counts equally. Beginning work in 2025, the Commission should allow citizens, alongside experts, to evaluate the options and recommend a new system for modern Britain that would command public trust and confidence – drawing insights from the UK’s devolved governments and other democracies.”
Alex Sobel MP, Chair of the APPG, said: “The popular vote a party needs to win a majority has been steadily falling for decades – and now First Past the Post has delivered a landslide on just a third of the vote. Are we really comfortable with a situation where a party – even an extreme party – can win a thumping majority with, say, just three out of ten votes? Because if things continue, that’s where we’re heading.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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