{"id":4350,"date":"2019-12-13T16:40:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T16:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.electoral-reform.org.uk\/?p=4350"},"modified":"2019-12-18T10:47:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T10:47:54","slug":"westminsters-voting-system-is-bankrupt-its-time-for-proportional-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/westminsters-voting-system-is-bankrupt-its-time-for-proportional-representation\/","title":{"rendered":"Westminster\u2019s voting system is bankrupt. It\u2019s time for proportional representation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row flexible-block\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 wysiwyg\">\n<p><strong>Millions of voters unrepresented. An unjust majority on a minority of the vote. And nearly one in three forced to vote \u2018tactically\u2019. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Westminster\u2019s voting system is not just bust. It\u2019s bankrupt, decrepit, discredited.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been crunching the numbers and found some stark results. For example. we analysed the number of votes received per MP elected.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Across Britain, it took&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f864,743 votes to elect 1 Green MP<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f642,303 votes to elect 0 Brexit Party MPs<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f334,122 votes to elect a Lib Dem<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f50,817 votes for a Labour MP<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f38,316 votes for a Plaid Cymru MP<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f38,300 votes for a Con. MP<br \/>\n\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f25,882 votes for a SNP MP<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ScrapFPTP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ScrapFPTP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Electoral Reform Society (@electoralreform) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/electoralreform\/status\/1205435581402099713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nWhen it takes nearly 900,000 votes to elect one party\u2019s MP, and just 26,000 for another, you know something is deeply wrong. Just because voters are spread out, it doesn&#8217;t mean they should go unrepresented.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, 45.3% of votes went unrepresented \u2013 i.e. the people in each area who did not vote for the winning MP.<\/p>\n<p>Across the country, it meant millions of votes for parties went to waste \u2013 with some parties\u2019 support much more spread out than others.<\/p>\n<p>Under proportional systems like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electoral-reform.org.uk\/voting-systems\/types-of-voting-system\/single-transferable-vote\/\">Single Transferable Vote<\/a>, these unrepresented votes would be redistributed to voters\u2019 other choices instead. But under one-person-takes-all voting, those voters are effectively silenced.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservatives have won a majority on a minority of the vote, with an increase in seat share high above their increase in vote share.<\/p>\n<p>The SNP have also been highly over-represented, while Liberal Democrat voters have been short changed. Thankfully both these parties support a fair, proportional voting system.<\/p>\n<p>People will not tolerate being systematically ignored. This has to be the last election under Westminster\u2019s warped voting system<\/p>\n<p>As ERS Senior Director Willie Sullivan noted, the two big parties cannot rest on their laurels: \u201cThe Conservatives must recognise they were helped by the Brexit Party standing down in their existing seats, while Labour must recognise that tactical voting under Westminster\u2019s voting system did not save them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trust in politics is at rock bottom. It\u2019s no wonder why.<\/p>\n<p>It is time for real reform to end the mass disenfranchisement we see under First Past the Post. Together, we can build a better democracy.<\/p>\n<p>The ERS has <a href=\"https:\/\/action.electoral-reform.org.uk\/page\/3782\/petition\/1\">launched a petition to introduce proportional representation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t have to accept the broken system as it is. Sign our petition, and join the movement for real democracy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ge2019.electoral-reform.org.uk\"><strong>You can view the full findings on our Results Hub here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/action.electoral-reform.org.uk\/page\/3782\/petition\/1\" class=\"btn\">Sign our petition for proportional representation<\/a>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row flexible-block\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12\">\n<div class='gf_browser_chrome gform_wrapper' id='gform_wrapper_2' >\n<div id='gf_2' class='gform_anchor' tabindex='-1'><\/div>\n<form method='post' enctype='multipart\/form-data' target='gform_ajax_frame_2' id='gform_2'  action='\/wp-admin\/post.php#gf_2'>\n<div class='gform_heading'>\n<h3 class='gform_title'>Sign up for updates from the Electoral Reform Society<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class='gform_body'>\n<ul id='gform_fields_2' class='gform_fields top_label form_sublabel_above description_above'>\n<li id='field_2_1'  class='gfield field_sublabel_above field_description_above hidden_label gfield_visibility_visible' ><label class='gfield_label gfield_label_before_complex'  ><\/label>\n<div class='gfield_description' id='gfield_description_2_1'>If you already receive emails from us, you don&#8217;t need to complete this form<\/div>\n<div class='ginput_complex ginput_container no_prefix has_first_name no_middle_name has_last_name no_suffix gf_name_has_2 ginput_container_name' id='input_2_1'>\n<p>                            <span id='input_2_1_3_container' class='name_first' ><br \/>\n                                                    <label for='input_2_1_3' >First Name<\/label><br \/>\n                                                    <input type='text' name='input_1.3' id='input_2_1_3' value='' aria-label='First name'    aria-invalid=\"false\" \/><br \/>\n                                                <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                            <span id='input_2_1_6_container' class='name_last' ><br \/>\n                                                            <label for='input_2_1_6' >Last Name<\/label><br \/>\n                                                            <input type='text' name='input_1.6' id='input_2_1_6' value='' aria-label='Last name'    aria-invalid=\"false\" \/><br \/>\n                                                        <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id='field_2_2'  class='gfield field_sublabel_above field_description_above gfield_visibility_visible' ><label class='gfield_label' for='input_2_2' >Email Address<\/label>\n<div class='ginput_container ginput_container_email'>\n                            <input name='input_2' id='input_2_2' type='text' value='' class='medium'     aria-invalid=\"false\" \/>\n                        <\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id='field_2_4'  class='gfield gfield_contains_required field_sublabel_above field_description_above gfield_visibility_visible' ><label class='gfield_label'  >Do you want to be subscribed to our email list to stay up to date with our work?<span class='gfield_required'>*<\/span><\/label>\n<div class='ginput_container ginput_container_radio'>\n<ul class='gfield_radio' id='input_2_4'>\n<li class='gchoice_2_4_0'><input name='input_4' type='radio' value='Y'  id='choice_2_4_0'    \/><label for='choice_2_4_0' id='label_2_4_0'>Yes<\/label><\/li>\n<li class='gchoice_2_4_1'><input name='input_4' type='radio' value='N'  id='choice_2_4_1'    \/><label for='choice_2_4_1' id='label_2_4_1'>No<\/label><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id='field_2_6'  class='gfield gfield_contains_required field_sublabel_above field_description_above gfield_visibility_visible' ><label class='gfield_label'  >Would you like to receive a weekly round-up of our recent articles via email?<span class='gfield_required'>*<\/span><\/label>\n<div class='ginput_container ginput_container_radio'>\n<ul class='gfield_radio' id='input_2_6'>\n<li class='gchoice_2_6_0'><input name='input_6' type='radio' value='Y'  id='choice_2_6_0'    \/><label for='choice_2_6_0' id='label_2_6_0'>Yes<\/label><\/li>\n<li class='gchoice_2_6_1'><input name='input_6' type='radio' value='N'  id='choice_2_6_1'    \/><label for='choice_2_6_1' id='label_2_6_1'>No<\/label><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id='field_2_3'  class='gfield field_sublabel_above field_description_above gfield_visibility_visible' ><label class='gfield_label' for='input_2_3' >CAPTCHA<\/label>\n<div id='input_2_3' class='ginput_container ginput_recaptcha' data-sitekey='6LeLAlgUAAAAAHFeA9blrAIko4k9eFdZu3qNGTPm'  data-theme='light' data-tabindex=''  data-badge=''><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class='gform_footer top_label'> <input type='submit' class='btn' id='gform_submit_button_2' value='Join our newsletter >&#8216; 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An unjust majority on a minority of the vote. And nearly one in three forced to vote \u2018tactically\u2019. Westminster\u2019s voting system is not just bust. It\u2019s bankrupt, decrepit, discredited. We\u2019ve been crunching the numbers and found some stark results. For example. we analysed the number of votes received per MP elected. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[5,405],"class_list":["post-4350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electoral-reform","tag-first-past-the-post","tag-ge2019","feature-category-comment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}