A weekend in September 2026, and I strapped my babbling five-month-old into her carrier and we ventured into Salford. Along with a backpack containing the eyewatering amount of stuff required when daring to leave the house with a baby, I brought some leaflets to hand out. What, pray tell, inspired me to skip nap time in order to engage with my fellow Greater Manchester residents? Why, Proportional Representation, of course. Our democracy needs to be reformed.
Our voting system gives power to politicians with less than 50% of the vote
In his first commons address this month, Andy Burnham lamented not just the centralisation of political power in the UK, but also the ‘point scoring and divisive politics’ that have defined the last decade. Those of us Up North (the technical term) will no doubt welcome the idea of returning power to our communities, and it’s clear that moving away from the unproductive, short-termist political culture in Westminster would benefit everyone.
The problem is, as Burnham himself has said, that this culture is inherently encouraged by our outdated voting system. A system that also routinely delivers absolute political power to governments that have not won the support of the majority of voters. If the Prime Minister wants to ensure democracy in every postcode, a proportional voting system will be key to ensure that power is spread evenly across the country.
While the UK electorate has undergone massive changes in the last few centuries, our voting system has stayed the same, leaving huge swathes of the country unrepresented. As the government prepares plans to join up and standardise local services and authorities, they have a unique opportunity to also rethink the way we elect our politicians to parliament.
In our democracy, many MPs represent a minority of their constituents
The decline of the traditional British two-party system has seen more fractured voting, with a third of constituencies defined as marginal in the last general election. These fractured votes means that representatives are being elected on smaller and smaller shares: 85% of MPs were elected with less than half of the vote at the last general election, with the lowest being elected on just 27%.
Record low voter turnout numbers and levels of trust in government have to be understood in the context that around three quarters of votes cast at the last election made no difference on its outcome and that 6 in 10 people have an MP that they did not vote for. People know that political parties don’t pay much attention until they think they might lose power, and those in safe seats across the country feel that they have been taken for granted for too long.
Millions of people live in constituencies that have been represented by the same party since WW2. In fact, Burnham’s own constituency Makerfield and its predecessor Ince has been held by the Labour Party for the last 120 years. This isn’t necessarily bad, and it’s worth noting that during that time Labour has almost always won with a majority. However, we only have to cast our minds back to the distant past of February this year to remember how voters in nearby Gorton and Denton suddenly felt listened to once there was a genuine chance of changing representatives.
Voters represented by someone they do not agree with, is that democracy?
One of the most commonly cited benefits of our electoral system is the strong link between MPs and their local constituency, providing a name and a face that directly represents you in parliament. And this can be a chance for regions or towns to have their voice heard in Westminster. We often overlook, however, the way that this system can trap voters with representatives that they completely disagree with. Imagine writing about climate change to an MP who doesn’t believe it’s real, or about local NHS services to someone who wants to privatise them.
Modelling of possible voting systems shows that the North East of England, for example, is one of the areas most disproportionately represented by our system. An election tomorrow using First Past the Post would return almost 85 percent Reform MPs, while different forms of Proportional Representation would return between 30 and 50 percent, in line with their actual vote share in the region.
This problem isn’t confined to the North, though. Just as non-Labour voters in so-called ‘Red Wall’ constituencies have been denied representation for years, so too have non-Conservative voters in areas of the South East of England. And as the number of political parties rises, so too does tactical voting, with almost a third of people not voting for their first choice in 2024.
Proportional Representation would allow multiple MPs to represent a region
Changing our voting system to a form of Proportional Representation could allow multiple MPs to collectively represent bigger constituencies or regions, allowing voters to contact the one that best represents them. It would also mean that the number of seats each party gains better reflects the number of votes they receive. These systems are used across Europe and in regional or local elections within the UK.
Burnham has historically been very supportive of Proportional Representation, but we haven’t heard much about it since he entered No. 10 (North). So is there a chance he’ll back down on his previous statements? Well, politicians usually become less favourable towards big changes to the system once they’re in power, and Mr Burnham has inherited a more than 100 seat majority.
Make Votes Matter hopes the Prime Minister will opt for Proportional Representation
The Labour party aren’t always the winners of our system, though, with their losses often just as inflated as their gains. They actually received fewer votes in their landslide victory in 2024 than they did in their 2017 defeat. How the next general election results will turn out is anyone’s guess.
So the PM has a decision to make: he can hold his party’s usual line, gambling on occasional landslides, or he can push for a fairer, proportional system where everyone’s voice is heard, no matter who they vote for or where they live. We hope it will be the latter.
Northern proportional representation advocates hold ‘Rally for real democracy’ in Manchester
Manchester rally: advocates fight for a change to proportional representation in order to make elections fairer and make every vote...
Read moreDetailsPetition calls for Starmer to add proportional representation to Labour’s election manifesto
Labour conference has voted to include PR in the party's election manifesto, but there are various reasons why Starmer may...
Read moreDetailsItems destroyed at Port of Liverpool recently
Pancake mix containing bleached flour? Not acceptable in our country!
Read moreDetailsEarth’s Follies – Week 85: mosquitoes, mayhem and musicians
Trump declares war on mosquitoes, threatens journalists and California, imaginary penguins arrive in Greenland and musicians remind Earth what humanity...
Read moreDetails
Bylines Network & No One Above
Where is justice? Survivors voices in parliament
NOA and Bylines Network are collaborating to make sure those voices are heard by the decision-makers who can remove the roadblocks to justice and address systemic failures of accountability.
Your support will allow us to put Gazettes in the hands of all MPs and make the campaign visible around parliament.
