The First Minister of Wales joined us to discuss democratic reform, at the second of our Levelling Up Democracy series.
"Now, let me make a confession: I have been a supporter of the Labour campaign for electoral reform for the whole of my political lifetime. How anyone clings to the notion that a system which delivers, so consistently, majority Conservative governments on a minority of the votes cast is best for working people simply baffles me."
- Mark Drakeford, during his 2021 Aneurin Bevan Memorial Lecture
Different parties won the 2019 general election in each of Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Yet, thanks to First Past the Post, every part of the United Kingdom is subject to the "determined and aggressive unilateralism" of a Tory majority government at Westminster: attacking devolved authorities, undermining progressive gains, and marginalising legitimate political voices. In contrast, the Welsh Labour government is leading a programme of democratic reform that could pave the way for a larger and more diverse Senedd and a stronger voice for Wales.
Listen to First Minster Mark Drakeford in conversation about the threat posed by First Past the Post at Westminster and the case for Proportional Representation - as well as his own democratic reform agenda in Wales.