MPs challenge Minister on First Past the Post
Labour MPs led questioning of the government’s position on electoral reform yesterday at a hearing of Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Richard Quigley MP asked the Democracy Minister, Rushanara Ali, about Labour’s policy on First Past the Post, which states that the system is “contributing to the distrust and alienation we see in politics”, and what assessment the government has made of these flaws.
👍 Labour MPs are leading the push for fair votes
— LCER (@Labour4PR) March 19, 2025
🥀 Labour must not be defenders of the broken status quo. We need a National Commission for Electoral Reform
🌹 The Government must put country first, party second - everyone deserves a fair vote https://t.co/WAOGqzV2qf
He was backed up by other MPs from the APPG for Fair Elections, who questioned what they saw as inaction and lack of urgency on the part of the government when it comes to addressing distrust in politics.
The Minister delivered the government’s previous line on this issue: that reforming the voting system is “not a priority”. However, it is notable how unsustainable this feels as a position given very serious concerns - which the government says it shares - about record low levels of trust in our democratic system.
It’s encouraging to see MPs from across Parliament continuing to push for the Government to respond adequately to our increasingly and dangerously unrepresentative voting system.
This follows the House of Commons voting in favour of Proportional Representation for the first time ever last December - and a hugely positive debate in the Commons Chamber in which supporters of PR outnumbered defenders of First Past the Post by twenty to one. We continue to work with MPs and other organisations to steadily build this pressure.
