Welcome to the latest round-up from Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform (LDER)! This month saw an avalanche of coverage and comment on the need for electoral reform in the wake of the local and mayoral elections. Support for Proportional Representation is broadening, including to Conservative politicians and to business leaders, and is becoming a headline issue. Liberal Democrats should seize the opportunity to press home our case for change.
More and more voices on the right of British politics have joined calls for Proportional Representation.
First Past the Post has become a threat to economic growth.
PR hits the headlines after the local elections’ coin-toss results.
And the Fair Elections APPG now has more MPs than the Parliamentary Conservative Party.
Two former Conservative Cabinet ministers penned opinion pieces calling for Proportional Representation: David Gauke in the New Statesman, and Tobias Ellwood in The Times.
Plus Nigel Farage confirmed his commitment to PR, having previously called First Past The Post his ‘friend’.
Sir Charlie Mayfield (former John Lewis CEO) cited the long-term planning enabled by Denmark’s proportional electoral system as part of its economic advantage over the UK.
In calling for PR on LBC, Professor Tim Bale observed that ’the current electoral system… creates an unstable economic environment’.
The LDER Take. In today’s era of multi-party politics, First Past the Post produces coin-toss contests - as the Mayoral elections showed. Britain’s economy badly needs investment: but unpredictable elections mean unpredictable economic conditions. FPTP has become a threat to growth.
Prof John Curtice called out Labour for not backing PR on BBC Newsnight, during the local elections coverage. Bridget Philipson replied with vacuous platitudes, in contrast to LDER President Sarah Olney’s clear pitch for PR on the same programme.
Mirroring the far right and centre right’s calls for electoral reform, the Morning Star and David Aaronovitch both backed PR after the local elections, and Professor Rob Ford, the pre-eminent scholar of electoral politics in the UK, called FPTP ‘a Farage-friendly system’.
Reviewing the local elections results, Politics Home identified a challenge of multi-party politics for the Liberal Democrats, arguing that squeeze campaigns will struggle to land in three- or four-way races. Responding to this piece, finance commentator Richard Murphy highlighted the need for PR to his audience, further demonstrating the broader relevance of reform.
The LDER Take: The staggeringly disproportionate mayoral election results have made it clear: in the new era of multi-party politics, First Past the Post delivers random, destabilising election results. Liberal Democrats should seize the opportunity presented by the new salience of the electoral system to press home our case for change.
Politics Home carried an op ed on Fair Elections becoming the largest APPG in the current Parliament.
Politics.co.uk ran the APPG’s line on the local elections being ‘a dress rehearsal for chaos’.
Left Foot Forwards wrote up the APPG’s call for PR.
Manuela Perteghella spoke on the need for capping political donations at a well attended Fair Elections APPG event at Westminster. Other speakers include Professor Rob Ford, IPPR’s Parth Patel and Labour and Green APPG Officers.
We hope this report is useful to you. If you would like to discuss these updates, or unsubscribe, please mail info@lder.org.
If MPs want to join the APPG on Fair Elections, please mail joe@fairvote.uk or mark@fairvote.uk. The APPG website is at: https://www.fairelections.uk/
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