Warrington-based Campaigners from Make Votes Matter took to the streets of Chester and Manchester this week as part of a nationwide day of action calling on Westminster to “wake up” and deliver electoral reform.
The actions across the North West saw campaigners do photo shoots with banners illustrating an urgency to change the Voting System for General Elections from First Past The Post (FPTP) to one of Proportional Representation (PR). The action formed part of a coordinated national campaign taking place across towns and cities throughout the country as part of Make Votes Matter’s national “Wake Up Westminster” campaign.
Organisers say the action is designed to highlight growing public frustration with a voting system that often leaves millions of people feeling their votes do not count.
Andy Watson, from Make Votes Matter Warrington, said: “Too many people feel their vote doesn’t count. Election after election, millions of voters are left without meaningful representation, while parties can gain huge amounts of power without winning the support of most voters. Our message is simple: Westminster needs to wake up. People deserve a voting system where seats better reflect votes cast and every voter can play a meaningful role in shaping the future of the country.”
Make Votes Matter and other campaign groups argue that the UK’s First Past the Post voting system produces distorted election results, encourages tactical voting and leaves many communities feeling ignored. At the last general election, Labour won a landslide majority with just 34% of the votes cast. Since then, the decline of Britain’s traditional two-party system has only become more clear, leading to increasingly unpredictable election results.
The recent local elections in England have produced results across the country that have disproportionately benefited different parties, and calls for electoral reform have been renewed, with advocates of a proportional system highlighting growing public frustration with a system that fails to represent votes accurately and leaves millions without meaningful representation. The campaign is calling for a proportional voting system that would ensure seats in Parliament more accurately reflect how people vote.
More than 100 MPs including Warrington South MP Sarah Hall have signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform to review the UK’s voting system.
