The processes and structures we have for deciding how to govern our country are dangerously out of date and need revitalising
The UK used to be at the forefront when it came to political systems, acting as one fo the world's first democracies. But our systems have become outdated and slowly eroded confidence in government and politics. We need to revitalise Britain for the modern world.
The best way we can do that is to put more power in people's hands: from changing the voting system, to doing away with unelected members of the House of Lords, to shifting decision-making and money to local and regional government.
Many of these plans were developed years and sometimes decades ago but because the current political system tends to favour whoever is in charge, reform keeps being put off. It's long past time to make necessary change.
A core belief for the Liberal Democrats is the need to shift to a proportional representation voting model. This would see Parliament represented in the same proportion as voters e.g. if three per cent of the population vote for the Green Party, it would have roughly the same proportion of seats in Parliament: around 20.
In reality, the situation is complicated by the fact everyone lives in a specific part of the country and typically votes for their "their MP." Our current voting system is a horse race (First Past the Post) in every constituency where whoever gets the most votes wins. That system has been increasingly criticized as embedding the same political parties in power over many decades, with half the seats never changing hands, and politics becoming increasingly separate from the lives of the public.
Over time, voting systems have changed to produce a better version of democracy for people. New political bodies whether it's the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament or elected mayors have almost always been done under a form of proportional representation. And some countries, like New Zealand, have decided to shift their voting systems to provide a more modern and vibrant democracy. Despite the Labour Party having long agreed in principle with changing the current voting system, when it has been in a position to change the system, it has held off; in large part because the current system rewards the party in power. At its most recent party meeting, a majority of members voted to change voting to proportional representation but current Labour leader Keir Starmer has so far refused to accept the change.
The Conservative Party has long been opposed to proportional representation because the current system disproprotionately favours them and has led them to being in power more often than they would have under a different voting system.
The Liberal Democrats favour a system called the single transferable vote (STV) which is used for elections in Ireland, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish local elections, for future elections. There are other variations, however, which are outlined in useful detail by the Electoral Reform Society. |