Keir Starmer embarrassed as almost 60 of his MPs back Lib Dem move to ditch first-past-the-post election voting and replace it with proportional system that could keep Labour in power longer_Nhy
Sir Keir Starmer suffered a mini-rebellion over electoral reform as almost 60 of his MPs backed a Lib Dem bid for voting reform that could keep Labour in power for longer.
Some 59 supported a proposal to ditch the historic first-past-the-post system and replace it with a form of proportional representation after they were given a free vote.
MPs voted 138 to 136 to allow the Elections (proportional representation) Bill to be introduced to the House via the ten-minute rule motion process.
Without government support the attempt to change the law is almost certain to fail, but it signals how much support there is on the Labour backbenches.
Sir Keir spoke out against PR in 2022 saying it was ‘not a priority’, having supported looking at replacing FPTP when he ran for Labour leader in 2020.
Analysis by the Electoral Reform Society after the July 4 general election showed that under PR Labour’s haul of 412 seats would have been cut to 236.
It won 64 per cent of the seats despite winning 34 per cent of the vote.
But it would have still taken power at the head of an anti-Tory coalition, with critics saying it would be harder to remove them as long as this block remained united.
Sir Keir last year spoke out against PR, having supported looking at replacing FPTP when he ran for Labour leader in 2020
The Bill, tabled today by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney (Richmond Park), aims to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England
The other big winners would be Reform UK. Nigel Farage’s party won five seats in July but came second in scores more with nothing to show for it.
Under PR the party could have won 94 seats, which supporters argue would be a fairer show of its support.
However Reform’s MPs were divided in today’s vote, with Richard Tice, Lee Anderson and James McMurdock voting for PR and Rupert Lowe voting against it. Leader Nigel Farage did not vote.
A referendum on voting reform in 2011 saw the public back keeping FPTP by 68 per cent to 32 per cent.
At the Labour Party conference in 2022 members voted in favour of making a manifesto commitment to proportional representation at the next election.
The weekend before Sir Keir had told The Observer: ‘There are a lot of people in the Labour Party who are pro-PR but it’s not a priority and we go into the next election under the same system that we’ve got, first past the post, and I’m not doing any deals going into the election or coming out of the election.’
The Bill, tabled today by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney (Richmond Park), aims to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England.
Ms Olney asked for the Bill to be listed to receive a second reading on January 24, 2025, although it is unlikely to secure time for debate on that day.
If the Bill does not receive government support then it is unlikely to progress further in the House in its current form.
‘This is a historic day in the fight for fairer votes and I am grateful to all the MPs who backed it,’ she said.
‘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, 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 Government must now listen to the will of the House, make time for the legislation and make fairer a votes a reality and we will be holding their feet to the fire to make this happen.’
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 per cent of the vote share, said FPTP should continue.
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 (that) 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.’
