Independent UK: Electoral Reform in Britain - Why It's Time For Change

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=637189



Electoral reform: Why it's time for change
By Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent
10 May 2005

The Government is facing calls for a wholesale review of the voting system after the general election was condemned as a "travesty of democracy". Politicians from all parties demanded that the first-past-the-post system be scrapped after Labour formed a Government with the smallest share of the vote for more than 100 years.

Constitutional specialists said Tony Blair was in charge of an "elected dictatorship" after Labour was able to win a majority with only 36 per cent of the vote. They say the Prime Minister is able to hold power with the support of just a fifth of the British adult population, the lowest figure since the Great Reform Act of 1832.

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"This general election has become a travesty of democracy," said Nina Temple, director of Make Votes Count, which campaigns for electoral reform. "We have now got a Government with a working majority elected by just over one-third of voters. When turnout is taken into account, only 21 per cent of the electorate voted for the Government."

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The Tories gained 50,000 more votes than Labour in England but got 92 fewer English seats. The Liberal Democrats said if the number of votes cast reflected the number of seats in Parliament they would have more than doubled their number of seats from 62 to 141. Lord Lester of Herne Hill, the Liberal Democrat peer, said the system means "one party can wield absolute power" without a clear majority of votes.

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There's a good chance that if the electoral system here was changed to proportional representation then the Tories would never again gain power in the UK.

Labour and the LibDems would be able to form a majority coalition every single time to keep the Tories out.

It is in their favour to keep the current system.

as it would give them a fighting chance of gaining more seats and even the opporunity to join a coalition government. As such the Liberal Democrats have been pro-PR for years and the Greens and RESPECT also support it.

However, the Conservative party opposes PR and the Labour party seems none to keen on the idea at present, although they are not above hinting at it if they need the Lib Dem's onside. I'm opposed to PR personally as we have PR at the European elections and I don't like that system at all. I like voting for one candidate, not a party list.