Proportional representation in the United Kingdom

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Proportional representation in the United Kingdom has been a political debate on electoral reform in British politics for many years.

Contents

History

There are British political parties, campaign groups and campaigners who have long argued that the current first-past-the-post voting system used for Parliamentary elections should be replaced with a proportional representation electoral system. The first nationwide poll under proportional representation was the 1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom. After the 2010 United Kingdom general election, Take Back Parliament was founded to protest the disproportional result. [1] Similar results happened in 2015. [2]

Polling

A 2015 poll found that 57% of the public agree with the principle that "the number of seats a party gets should broadly reflect its proportion of the total votes cast" – compared to only 9% who disagree. The poll, which was scientifically weighted, also found that 51% of the population said they were "unhappy with the current electoral system and want it to change" compared to only 28% who want to keep first-past-the-post (FPTP). [3]

A Redfield and Wilton poll [4] conducted in July 2020 showed 54% of respondents supported switching to a Proportional Representation system, with 16% opposed. Results from a YouGov poll of 1,799 adults in Great Britain, conducted on 29 August 2022, placed those supporting proportional representation at 46%, don't know at 28%, and those supporting first-past-the-post at 26%. [5] [6]

In February 2025, a poll suggested British voters support a change to the voting system. [7] A 2025 YouGov poll, found support for proportional representation at 49%, don't know at 25%, and those supporting first-past-the-post at 26%. [8] Most Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Labour voters supported PR while Conservative voters are divided.

Parliamentary and party positions

The introduction of proportional representation has been advocated for some time by the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales, [9] [10] and by some pressure groups, such as Charter 88, Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society. In 1998 and 2003, independent commissions were formed to look into electoral reform. [11] After the 2005 election, in which Labour was elected with the lowest share of the national vote for any single party majority government in British history, more public attention was drawn to the issue. The national newspaper The Independent started a petition for the introduction of a more proportional system immediately after the election, under the title "Campaign For Democracy". [12] [13] Make Votes Matter also advocate for proportional representation. [14]

After its inaugural meeting on 29 November 2016 and until September 2017, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Reform was a cross-party group consisting of 150 MPs who support electoral reform, chaired by Richard Burden and latterly Chuka Umunna. [15]

Labour pledged in its manifesto for the 1997 general election to set up a commission on alternatives to the first-past-the-post system for general elections and to hold a referendum on whether to change the system. The Independent Commission on the Voting System, headed by Lord Jenkins of Hillhead and known as the Jenkins Commission, was established in December 1997. It reported in October 1998 and suggested the Alternative vote top-up or AV+ system.

The government had expected a recommendation which could have been implemented within the Parliament, and decided that it would be impractical to have a general election using First Past the Post (FPTP) after a referendum decision to adopt a different system, and therefore delayed the referendum until after the next general election. Those elements within the Labour Party opposed to any change persuaded the party not to repeat the pledge for a referendum in the 2001 manifesto, and therefore none was held once the party was re-elected.

After the 2005 election, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said there was "no groundswell" for change, although a Cabinet committee was given the task of investigating reform. John Prescott was appointed as chair; given his known opposition to change, proponents were critical and dismissive of the move. Several prominent Labour MPs expressed a desire for investigating electoral reform, including Peter Hain (who argued in the House of Commons in March 2004 for the Alternative Vote), Patricia Hewitt, Tessa Jowell and Baroness Amos.

As mentioned above, in January 2008 the government produced a "desk-bound" review of the experience to date of new voting systems in the United Kingdom since Labour came to power in 1997. This review was non-committal as to the need for further reform, especially as regards reform of the voting system used in parliamentary elections.

In the 2005–2010 parliament, the Conservative Party was predominantly in favour of retaining FPTP. Although the Conservatives would have won significantly more seats in the 2005 election if some form of proportional representation had been used[ citation needed ], some in the party[ who? ] felt it might find itself politically isolated on the right, and face Labour/Lib Dem coalition governments. Electoral reform, towards a proportional model, was desired by the Liberal Democrats, the Green party, and several other small parties.

In 2019 the Liberal Democrats, Green Party of England and Wales, Scottish National Party, and the Brexit Party (which has since changed its name to Reform UK) all "signed a declaration calling for the first-past-the-post method for Westminster elections to be replaced by a proportional system". [16]

After the UK 2010 general election, the new coalition government agreed to hold a referendum on voting reform. The Alternative Vote referendum took place on 5 May 2011; voters were given the choice of switching to the Instant-runoff vote system or retaining the current one. The result was a vote against AV (a non-proportional system), with 32% in favour and 68% against. [17]

In 2015, the non-profit venture Make Votes Matter was formed to campaign for proportional representation. [18] It made the point that some 68 per cent of votes were ineffective, and hence 'wasted' in the UK general election of 2015. [19]

Reversal to first-past-the-post system in some English and Welsh elections

In 2021, the Conservative government proposed that the voting system for English mayoral and English and Welsh Police and Crime Commissioner elections be reverted to the first-past-the-post system. These elections previously used the supplementary vote system, in which the winner requires at least 50%+1 of the votes after preferences to win. [20] [21] The proposed move was heavily criticised by other parties, which said the Tories "demonstrated their breathtaking arrogance and their utter disdain for devolution". The Electoral Reform Society said the government was seeking to return to "a discredited, outdated and broken voting system". [22] The plans became law following the passing of the Elections Act 2022.

In 2025 the Labour government announced plans to return to the supplementary vote system for mayoral and PCC elections as part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. [23]

The 2026 Senedd election will be held under full proportional representation for the first time. [24]

See also

References

  1. "Protest demands electoral reform". 8 May 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2018 via news.bbc.co.uk.
  2. "Election 'most disproportionate in history' say campaigners". BBC News. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  3. Stone, Jon (16 December 2015). "There's now strong support for changing the voting system to proportional representation, new polling finds". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. "Public Would Support a Change to Proportional Representation". 8 July 2020. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. "Should we change our current British voting system?". YouGov. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  6. "YouGov full data set". YouGov. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  7. "Do Britons support shifting to proportional representation? | YouGov". yougov.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  8. "Do Britons support shifting to proportional representation?". YouGov. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  9. "Greens call for Proportional Representation after winning 1,157,613 votes and just one seat". Green Party of England and Wales (official website). 9 May 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  10. "Public Administration". Green Party of England and Wales (official website). September 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2020. PA451 Central Government currently revolves around the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, with the role of Parliament greatly diminished. The most important reform needed to redress this imbalance is the move to proportional representation. This will help to bring an end to the traditional dominance of two political parties in Britain.
  11. Electoral Process - Questions, archived from the original on 28 January 2011
  12. Editorial: A real democracy needs a system of proportional representation independent.co.uk, After just one week of this newspaper's "campaign for democracy", it has become clear that there exists a real desire in this country for substantial electoral reform. Not least because the results of the general election turned out to be a striking exposé of the deficiencies of our electoral system... 14 May 2005, accessed 31 July 2018
  13. Marie Woolf- The proof: Vote reform will boost turnout independent.co.uk, Report of an analysis of turnout in 164 countries, by Professor Pippa Norris of Harvard University 15 June 2005, accessed 31 July 2018
  14. "Northern Proportional Representation Advocates Hold 'Rally for Real Democracy' in Manchester". Blackpool Gazette. 2025-07-06. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  15. 'Who we are'- In Parliament: The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Proportional Representation (APPGPR) Archived 7 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine at electoral-reform.org.uk, Accessed 6 February 2018
  16. "Brexit Party joins cross-party alliance for voting reform". BBC News. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  17. "Vote 2011: UK rejects alternative vote". BBC News. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  18. "Make Votes Matter" . Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. Make Votes Matter campaign for voting reform gathers pace after election at independent.co.uk, accessed 1 May 2018
  20. Waterson, Jim (9 May 2021). "Government to change English voting system after Labour mayoral victories". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  21. "UK Government to scrap voting system that helped Plaid and Labour to victory in PCC elections". Nation.Cymru . 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  22. Woodcock, Andrew (16 March 2021). "Priti Patel under fire over plan to change voting system for London mayor". The Independent . Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  23. "Government decision to restore Supplementary Vote system elections is a big win for voters – Electoral Reform Society – ERS". 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  24. "How will the new Senedd voting system work at the 2026 election?". BBC News. 2025-05-06. Retrieved 2025-09-25.