An online petition has been set up by Owen Winter, a 17 year old student to bring an electoral reform debate to the House of Commons. When I heard about this petition, I had no hesitation in signing myself. I have generally always been uneasy with First Past The Post. Although I will admit that until recent years, the issue of Electoral Reform has not been right at the top of my political concerns.
Having already signed the petition, I later saw a video on Youtube of 17 year old Owen Winter talking about the unfairness of Britain's First Past The Post electoral system. I found it to be very inspiring. I am now going to talk through a few scenarios on why FPTP is bad for Britain.
"I live in the safe Labour seat of Liverpool Riverside and vote Labour."
The plus is that you will get the party you vote for representing you at Westminster. But the 29,835 people who voted for Louise Ellman to be re-elected, are only voting for one member of parliament. And that is not the only downside. The election for this seat is a one horse race, and even if there was ever a Tory government that wins a general election by a landslide, Liverpool Riverside would still probably be Labour anyway.
There are too many seats that are either safe Labour and safe Conservative. I feel it is time to make the case to Labour and Conservative voters in safe seats that they are effectively taking part in a one horse race for one seat. Whilst many staunch Tories and Labourites may like the idea of an electoral system that is more likely to deliver a single party government, they really need to reflect on the reality that if they are in a safe seat, the current system does not make them powerful voters!
"I live in the marginal constituency of Wirral West and vote Liberal Democrat."
This seat was won narrowly by Labour at the expense of Conservative government minister Esther McVey in this year's election. But if you wished to vote Liberal Democrat or any party other than Labour and the Conservatives, then you have to accept your vote will be wasted. Some people in seats like Wirral West will inevitably vote for one of the two big parties, to try and keep the other big party out, even though the vote they have cast does not reflect their true opinion.
This seat is of course not too far geographically from Liverpool. So why should the Labour voters in this seat be more powerful than the Labour voters in Liverpool Riverside and other safe Labour seats in Liverpool?
"I live in Camborne and Redruth, but am unsure on how I am going to vote."
The good news is your vote should count here, in a seat that has been held in recent times by three different parties. This seat was billed in the 2015 general election as a four way marginal between the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Although the Conservative George Eustace increased his majority of just 66 votes in 2010 to a majority of over 7000 in 2015, his share of the vote in this seat was just a little over 40%. This is now a familiar pattern across the country where many MPs are getting elected on less than 50% of the popular vote.
And there now follows a couple of quotes from prominent politicians, which I feel undermine First Past The Post.
"Here's a thought: on 7th May you could go to bed with Nigel Farage, and wake up with Ed Miliband. I don't know about you but not one bit of that works for me."
Of course those are the words of David Cameron at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference. In a bid to appeal to former Tory voters who had moved over to Nigel Farage's UKIP, Cameron gives a reason to not vote for someone else as opposed to why voters should vote for him. The recent election also saw senior Labour politicians give a similar message to Scottish voters on how voting for the Scottish Nationalist Party will let a Tory government in by the back door. All very negative really!
"Even if we selected a raving alcoholic sex paedophile we wouldn't lose Grimsby."
Prior to retiring as MP for Great Grimsby after serving the North Lincolnshire constituency for 38 years, it is believed Austin Mitchell made these comments in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. Although Mitchell later claimed the remark (if he had made it) was a joke, Grimsby has been continuously returning Labour MPs since 1945.
Britain did indeed have an electoral reform referendum in 2011, as part of the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Whilst the electorate did vote to stick with the status quo, we have now had another general election under the same existing system which is exposing more problems.
In the scenarios above, one group of people I did not mention are the voters in safe seats who prefer to vote against the party who always wins. These people have very little voice and are being failed in a big way. In fact of the 31 Million people who voted in General Election 2015, 19 Million voted for losing candidates.
I have made noises previously suggesting that electoral reform was not likely in the foreseeable future. To my pleasant surprise, I may have underestimated a growing feeling of voters across the political spectrum. If change can be achieved sooner rather than later, then it will in part be a major achievement for Owen Winter.
Having already signed the petition, I later saw a video on Youtube of 17 year old Owen Winter talking about the unfairness of Britain's First Past The Post electoral system. I found it to be very inspiring. I am now going to talk through a few scenarios on why FPTP is bad for Britain.
"I live in the safe Labour seat of Liverpool Riverside and vote Labour."
The plus is that you will get the party you vote for representing you at Westminster. But the 29,835 people who voted for Louise Ellman to be re-elected, are only voting for one member of parliament. And that is not the only downside. The election for this seat is a one horse race, and even if there was ever a Tory government that wins a general election by a landslide, Liverpool Riverside would still probably be Labour anyway.
There are too many seats that are either safe Labour and safe Conservative. I feel it is time to make the case to Labour and Conservative voters in safe seats that they are effectively taking part in a one horse race for one seat. Whilst many staunch Tories and Labourites may like the idea of an electoral system that is more likely to deliver a single party government, they really need to reflect on the reality that if they are in a safe seat, the current system does not make them powerful voters!
"I live in the marginal constituency of Wirral West and vote Liberal Democrat."
This seat was won narrowly by Labour at the expense of Conservative government minister Esther McVey in this year's election. But if you wished to vote Liberal Democrat or any party other than Labour and the Conservatives, then you have to accept your vote will be wasted. Some people in seats like Wirral West will inevitably vote for one of the two big parties, to try and keep the other big party out, even though the vote they have cast does not reflect their true opinion.
This seat is of course not too far geographically from Liverpool. So why should the Labour voters in this seat be more powerful than the Labour voters in Liverpool Riverside and other safe Labour seats in Liverpool?
"I live in Camborne and Redruth, but am unsure on how I am going to vote."
The good news is your vote should count here, in a seat that has been held in recent times by three different parties. This seat was billed in the 2015 general election as a four way marginal between the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Although the Conservative George Eustace increased his majority of just 66 votes in 2010 to a majority of over 7000 in 2015, his share of the vote in this seat was just a little over 40%. This is now a familiar pattern across the country where many MPs are getting elected on less than 50% of the popular vote.
And there now follows a couple of quotes from prominent politicians, which I feel undermine First Past The Post.
"Here's a thought: on 7th May you could go to bed with Nigel Farage, and wake up with Ed Miliband. I don't know about you but not one bit of that works for me."
Of course those are the words of David Cameron at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference. In a bid to appeal to former Tory voters who had moved over to Nigel Farage's UKIP, Cameron gives a reason to not vote for someone else as opposed to why voters should vote for him. The recent election also saw senior Labour politicians give a similar message to Scottish voters on how voting for the Scottish Nationalist Party will let a Tory government in by the back door. All very negative really!
"Even if we selected a raving alcoholic sex paedophile we wouldn't lose Grimsby."
Prior to retiring as MP for Great Grimsby after serving the North Lincolnshire constituency for 38 years, it is believed Austin Mitchell made these comments in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. Although Mitchell later claimed the remark (if he had made it) was a joke, Grimsby has been continuously returning Labour MPs since 1945.
Britain did indeed have an electoral reform referendum in 2011, as part of the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Whilst the electorate did vote to stick with the status quo, we have now had another general election under the same existing system which is exposing more problems.
In the scenarios above, one group of people I did not mention are the voters in safe seats who prefer to vote against the party who always wins. These people have very little voice and are being failed in a big way. In fact of the 31 Million people who voted in General Election 2015, 19 Million voted for losing candidates.
I have made noises previously suggesting that electoral reform was not likely in the foreseeable future. To my pleasant surprise, I may have underestimated a growing feeling of voters across the political spectrum. If change can be achieved sooner rather than later, then it will in part be a major achievement for Owen Winter.
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