Nearly 100 Labour MPs are backing a commission to decide on a route to replace the first-past-the-post voting system, putting new pressure on Andy Burnham to act on electoral reform. Despite the policy not being included in the party’s 2024 manifesto, the move reflects growing internal support for change.
Official stance and internal divisions
The official government position remains unchanged. The 2024 Labour manifesto only addressed elections in terms of ID rules and extending the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds. Before becoming prime minister, Burnham said he would not deviate from the manifesto.
Unofficially, the situation is different. Burnham is a longstanding supporter of electoral reform, a view shared by his party. In 2022, the Labour conference voted overwhelmingly to support a proportional electoral system. A similar motion was defeated the previous year after unions blocked it.
It is also worth noting that voting systems vary across the UK. While Westminster elections use first past the post, elections to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parliaments are proportional. Mayors are elected using the supplementary vote, which gives weight to second choices.
Why pressure is building
Two main reasons explain the renewed pressure. First, the makeup of Labour MPs changed notably with the 2024 election. Many longer-standing MPs had been sceptical about electoral reform, arguing it was the party’s role to compete in a winner-takes-all contest as one of the two parties of government, and that proportional representation would create unstable coalitions. In contrast, many new MPs, like the bulk of Labour members, support change.
Second, politics is different. First past the post had a rationale when Labour and the Conservatives won the bulk of votes. But eroded party loyalties have created an atomised system in which five parties – Reform UK, Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens – are bunched in a tight group. Even in the 2024 election, Labour won nearly two-thirds of all Commons seats with just a third of votes.
What MPs hope to solve
There is a direct vested interest for some Labour MPs: Reform has polled regularly at around or above 30%. If replicated in a general election, it could send Nigel Farage to No 10 with a huge majority but on limited public support.
Supporters of a proportional system note that first past the post means millions of people end up having to vote tactically, picking a least-disliked candidate who may realistically win rather than the person or party they truly support. This can create disenchantment and cynicism.
They also point out that while supporters of first past the post argue it brings stability, a country with its seventh prime minister in just over a decade is hardly a beacon for this virtue.
Potential outcomes under proportional representation
There are many different potential systems, all of which would bring varying results. As a broad guide, if the 2024 election had been held under a completely proportional method, rather than a Labour landslide, Keir Starmer would have needed the support of other parties – perhaps the Lib Dems and Greens – to get anything done.
Another factor is that as electoral systems change, so does voting behaviour. One of the main blocks to support for smaller parties has been the belief among voters that they cannot win and are thus a wasted vote. Under a proportional method, this could change.
In the short term, no change is expected. Even with the prospect of a Reform government, Burnham has categorically ruled out any change to the electoral system before the next election, as this was not part of the 2024 manifesto.
What the Labour MPs hope to achieve is a plan that could form part of the next manifesto – a commitment that if the party was re-elected, it would change the voting system. If this involved a proportional system, it would most likely get the support of the Lib Dems, Greens, Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru, all of which back such a move.
Reform also officially supports electoral reform, with Farage a long-term advocate – even though he has gone quiet on the issue since his party began leading in the polls.
