Local MP to Government: Deliver the Fair Voting System the Public Deserves

Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has today challenged the Government to finally deliver a fair voting system by introducing proportional representation for General Elections, scrapping the broken, outdated First Past the Post system once and for all.

His call came during a Parliamentary statement on the Government’s new strategy for elections. While the Government confirmed changes to how mayoral elections will be run, restoring the Supplementary Vote system, a form of proportional voting, they stopped short of reforming the way MPs are elected to Westminster.

Speaking in the Commons, Tom called out the hypocrisy of the Government reintroducing a more representative system for some elections, while refusing to apply the same fairness to the one that matters most: General Elections.

“The Government clearly recognises the flaws in winner-takes-all voting systems, so why are they still clinging on to First Past the Post for General Elections? It’s a system that shuts out millions of voices, distorts public opinion, and delivers Parliaments that simply don’t reflect how people voted.”

Under First Past the Post, parties can win landslide majorities with a minority of the vote. In last year’s General Election, Labour secured more than 60% of seats with just 34% of the national vote. Meanwhile, millions of votes across the country counted for nothing, simply because they were cast in so-called “safe” seats.

Polling shows that a clear majority of the public support switching to proportional representation, so do thousands of Labour members and a growing number of MPs across parties. Yet the Government continues to ignore the democratic deficit that this creates.

Tom added:

“General Elections are when most people show up to vote, and yet they’re the elections where your vote is least likely to count. That’s an insult to voters. If this Government truly cared about democracy, it would be acting to make every vote matter.

“The response I received from the Minister today was nothing short of dismissive. There is simply no excuse for running the UK’s most important election on a system so unfit for purpose.

“The Liberal Democrats have led the campaign for fair votes for years. While we welcome steps to improve mayoral elections, it’s time the same principles were applied across the board. Westminster must not be left behind.”

ENDS