First Past the Post (FPTP) is a ridiculous method of selecting a government. It produces results that are neither fair nor predictable. All too frequently, it has produced governments that only attracted a minority of the votes cast and yet are given a comfortable majority of the seats at Parliament. One of the worst such […]
Open letter to the “Alliance for Radical Democratic Change” (AFRDC)
5th June 2023 We appreciate that your new Alliance is looking at the issue of democratic change which is vital in making our society more equitable. But we are sure that tens of thousands of electoral reformers will be very disappointed — indeed perplexed — by your decision to omit any reference to proportional representation […]
The referendum card on Electoral Reform: gold standard or ‘booby prize’?
As a veteran of the electoral reform campaigns in Canada, I look at Labour’s recent progress on this issue in the UK with considerable interest. TAKING A REFERENDUM FOR GRANTED One thing that strikes me is the way pundits are dealing with the referendum issue. There seems to me an unquestioned premise that the democratic […]
DIRTY BUSINESS: IS OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM HOLDING US BACK IN A CLIMATE EMERGENCY?
The day after BP announced record profits of £23 billion, my energy supplier tripled my monthly payments. I’m not alone, nor am I the worst off. National Energy Action estimates that when the UK Government ends the current price cap in April 2023, a shattering one in three families will face fuel poverty. It’s true that […]
Devolution without PR is like playing footie without a ball!
Labour’s shadow cabinet has recently revealed what it hopes to do if and when it wins the next election. Some long-needed constitutional reforms have been discussed but, astonishingly, these exclude the introduction of a proportional representation (PR) voting system. Keir Starmer has proposed some devolution of government to the regions and former Prime Minister […]