A study conducted by the Electoral Reform Society has concluded that just less than half the UK electorate in the 2019 general election were denied proper representation and counting of their vote due to what it describes as a “morally and politically bankrupt” voting system. The study placed the number of peoples vote who didn’t really affect anything at 14.5 million.
The ERS is an organization that campaigns to end the ‘first-past-the-post’ system and they claim that 45 per cent of the UK electorate cast a vote for a non-elected parliamentary candidate. Dr Jess Garland who is the director of research and policy at the ERS, has described the current voting system as “broken” and has urged all political parties to back their proposal to move to proportional representation (PR) to help bring about “real democracy” in Westminster.
The study which was titled ‘Voters Left Voiceless’ used a combination of data from pollsters such as YouGov and others. YouGov revealed that 32 per cent of voters had and voted tactically, rather than selecting their preferred party or candidate. Dr Garland said that her research “exposes the scale of disenfranchisement” that currently occurs under a “one-party-takes-all voting” system. She insists that a PR system would help ensure seats in parliament reflect how people actually want to vote.
At the 2019 General Election the Labour Party, with their stockpiling of votes in many big cities resulted in it on average 50,835 votes to return a Labour MP this compared to 38,264 for a Conservative MP. On top of this the ERS also stated that smaller parties such as the Greens, Lib Dems and Brexit Party were “penalized” by the current system. Electoral reform was last looked at via referendum in 2011 and given the size of the current Conservative majority it seems unlikely it will be looked at in the near future. However, these numbers are grave, and could they be the slow killer of British democracy.
UNN is a truly alternative news organisation delivering live shows, articles, outside broadcasts and so much more! We desperately need your support to continue each month and you can support our work by Clicking Here Now and SUBSCRIBING to show your support for Real News!
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
[sibwp_form id=4]
