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Democracy and Representation |
A major obstacle to achieving change in Britain is the antiquated and undemocratic electoral system we still face. In the 2005 general election Labour polled only 35.2 percent of the votes cast but got 55.1 percent of Parliamentary seats: an overall majority of 66 on the basis of 35.2 percent of votes cast. This kind of first-past-the-post (FPTP) system of election is scandalous and indefensible.
The Tories got 30.7 percent of the vote and 32.3 percent of the seats. The Liberal Democrats polled 22.1 percent of the vote and got only 9.6 percent of the seats. In other words it took 26,000 votes to elect a Labour MP, 44,000 to elect a Tory MP, and a huge 96,000 to elect a Liberal Democrat MP – nearly four times as many needed by Labour.
In such elections most people’s votes don’t count. According to the Electoral Reform Society in the 2005 general election 19 million people cast ineffective votes – that is 70 percent of those who voted.
Most of these are the same people every time: Labour voters in strong Tory or Liberal democrat seats or vice-versa. The effects of this system on small parties is such that it is almost impossible for them to win a Westminster seat. Respect’s victory in Bethnal Green and Bow was exceptional.
The Greens, who have been standing in elections for thirty years, have never won a Westminster seat.
FPTP is designed to create and maintain a two party system, and the two biggest parties are wedded to it for that reason. The Tories don’t complain when it works against them because they know that the time will come when it will work to their advantage and Labour does the same.
The Liberal Democrats have called for electoral reform for decades with no effect. But they want a system from which they and not smaller parties will benefit. FPTP is now
so central to the party political system in Britain that the whole edifice would fall apart if it were changed. It is a scandal and must be replaced by a proportional system.
In Scotland local elections are now held under a proportional system as with the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the London Assembly and the European Parliament.
In England and Wales, however, the local elections are still under FPTP – with no
change to this in sight.
Electoral reform was one of New Labour’s manifesto pledges in 1997 which was kicked into the long grass once they were in office and most likely to be reelected under the current FPTP system.
Respect rejects this approach and will give the campaign for electoral reform an increasingly high priority.
RESPECT CALLS FOR:
> A fully proportional voting system, giving representation directly equal to votes received. This should apply to all elections: local, European, and Parliamentary as well as the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and London Assemblies.
> The abolition of the House of Lords and its replacement by an elected Upper Chamber on the basis of proportional representation.
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