Modernising Elections: our Call for Evidence response
Labour for a New Democracy made the following submission to the Call for Evidence, held as part of the inquiry by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee into Modernising Elections.
Read the submission below - and submit your own views to the Committee by Tuesday 22 April.
Call for Evidence: Modernising Elections
Submission to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee by Labour for a New Democracy
Summary
1. The 2024 general election result was the most disproportionate in history, with Labour winning 63% of the seats with just 33.7% of the popular vote. Unprecedented voter fragmentation combined with a First Past the Post voting system means there is a historically high likelihood that the next general election will produce even more unrepresentative results - and political instability, extreme or divisive government with minimal public support, and further erosion of trust and democratic legitimacy.
2. The Government should establish a National Commission on Electoral Reform to review the use of First Past the Post for general elections, consider whether other systems would better serve modern Britain, and propose a way forward.
Democratic engagement
What is the current state of electoral democracy in the UK today?
3. Electoral democracy in the UK faces a number of threats, some of which are addressed by the Government’s Representation of the People Bill. However, the Bill does nothing to address the threat to the fairness, stability and resilience of Britain’s democracy created by the combination of unprecedented political fragmentation with a First Past the Post voting system designed for just two parties.
4. Dark money in politics, administrative barriers to voting and malicious disinformation all corrode trust and exert undue influence. But it is only the combination of First Past the Post with an increasingly diverse electorate which risks making our elections truly unrepresentative, random, and chaotic.
5. In February 2026, fifty leading academics wrote an open letter to Ministers (see annex), warning that “the collision of a multi-party electorate with a voting system designed for just two parties is creating new risks for Britain” and that the distortions in First Past the Post may be “exaggerated to a degree never seen before in our democratic history”.
6. Since universal suffrage no previous Government has faced such warnings. There is a historic likelihood that the voting system reaches breaking point at the next general election if the present Government takes no action.
What else should be done to increase electoral engagement?
7. Studies have consistently found that proportional voting systems tend to have turnouts of around 5-8% higher compared to the same election under First Past the Post (Lijphart, 2012; Pilon, 2007; Norris, 2004; Blais and Carty, 1990).
8. The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has set out the reason for this in his own words, stating that: “We’ve got to address the fact that millions of people vote in safe seats and they feel their voice doesn’t count. That’s got to be addressed by electoral reform. We will never get full participation in our electoral system until we do that at every level” (LabourList, 2020). The Prime Minister understands that First Past the Post disincentivises voting by denying many ordinary people a fair say in our elections.
9. The Labour Party’s official policy on electoral reform, agreed unanimously in 2023 by Labour’s National Policy Forum, states that “the flaws in the current voting system are contributing to the distrust and alienation we see in politics.” (Labour Party, 2023). The Government understands that First Past the Post is having a corrosive effect on trust in politics.
10. Labour’s official policy continues: “...but there is no consensus for a new system. Any proposed change to our voting system must be carefully thought through – it cannot be dictated by political leaders or forced upon the country from the top down” (Labour Party, 2023). This is why there are mounting calls for a National Commission on Electoral Reform.
Modernisation of elections
What other changes to the UK’s body of electoral law would you like to see?
11. The Government should set up a National Commission on Electoral Reform to independently review the use of First Past the Post for general elections, foster a national conversation about how Parliament should be elected in modern Britain, and seek to build consensus on a way forward.
12. With input from a dozen leading academics, constitutional experts, and think tanks, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections - the largest APPG in this Parliament - has developed a Terms of Reference for a National Commission on Electoral Reform (APPG for Fair Elections; 2025).
13. A National Commission would seek input from voters as well as experts, and would start from first principles - asking what features voters expect from an electoral system in 21st century Britain, whether First Past the Post meets these criteria, and whether any alternative systems may be improvements. It should draw insights and experiences from the UK’s devolved bodies and other democracies.
14. A National Commission on Electoral Reform could complete its work and present Parliament with a set of carefully evidenced final recommendations within twelve months of launch. It would be for Government, Parliament and parties to decide whether to act on these recommendations or commit to implementing them in future manifestos.
About Labour for a New Democracy
15. Labour for a New Democracy campaigns for Labour to introduce a fair, proportional electoral reform for UK elections. We engage and coordinate across the Labour Party and movement, Parliament, civil society, trade unions, academia and media to make the case for democratic renewal, starting with a National Commission on Electoral Reform.
Annex:
Open letter to Ministers: First Past the Post creating new risks for Britain (14 February 2026)
British politics is the most fragmented it has ever been. At the last general election, fewer people voted for Labour or the Conservatives than at any time in a hundred years. Since then this trend has accelerated, with these parties now struggling to reach a combined 40% in the polls while other parties surge. The UK appears to have entered an era of truly multi-party politics.
Were a general election to happen under these conditions, the distortional features of Britain’s First Past the Post voting system are likely to be amplified to an unprecedented extent. National results that appear random and arbitrary, MPs elected with weak local mandates, and parties forming majority governments with low levels of popular support are not new phenomena - but there is a real possibility they are now exaggerated to a degree never seen before in our democratic history.
Ministers say the Representation of the People Bill will make our democracy fit for the future, yet there are currently no provisions in the legislation, or elsewhere in the Government’s wider agenda, that make general elections of this description any less likely. The collision of a multi-party electorate with a voting system designed for just two parties is creating new risks for Britain. If the Government wishes - as it has said - to protect and enhance the integrity of British democracy, to guard against political instability, and to stem the ongoing loss of trust in politics, it would be wise to engage with these risks.
The undersigned include leading academics, former senior public officials, and experts in politics, law, and public policy from universities and institutions across the United Kingdom and internationally.
Professor Katharine Adeney, University of Nottingham
Dr Anwen Elias, Aberystwyth University
Professor Tim Bale, Queen Mary University of London
Lewis Baston, Author and Consultant
Professor Sarah Birch, King’s College London
Professor Andrew Blick, The Constitution Society
Professor Sir Vernon Bogdanor, King’s College London
Professor Robert Blackburn KC, King’s College London
Professor Rosie Campbell, King’s College London
Dr Fernando Casal Bertoa, University of Nottingham
Professor Pippa Catterall, University of Westminster
Professor Christopher Claassen, University of Glasgow
Dr Luke Cooper, London School of Economics
Professor Dario Castiglione, University of Exeter
Professor Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Patrick Dunleavy, London School of Economics
Professor Stephen Elstub, Newcastle University
Professor Alan Finlayson, University of East Anglia
Dr Chris Finlayson, Aberystwyth University
Professor Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield
Professor Rob Ford, University of Manchester
Dr Adam Fusco, University of York
Professor Michael Gordon, University of Liverpool
Professor Chris Hanretty, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Oliver Heath, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor David Howarth, University of Cambridge
Professor Maria Iacovou, University of Cambridge
Dr Toby S. James, University of East Anglia
Dr Elliot Johnson, Northumbria University
Dr Elizabeth Kahn, Durham University
Dr David Klemperer, University of Bath
Professor Dennis Leech, University of Warwick
Professor Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego
Professor Laura McAllister, Cardiff University
Professor Aileen McHarg, Durham University
Dr Sean McDaniel, University of Leeds
Professor James Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
Dr Alfred Moore, University of York
Professor Colin Murray, Newcastle University
Professor Anja Neundorf, University of Glasgow
Professor Pippa Norris, Harvard University
Dr Salomon Orellana, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
Dr Aykut Öztürk, University of Glasgow
Professor Charles Pattie, University of Sheffield
Professor Dennis Pilon, York University, Toronto
Bob Posner, Former Chief Executive, UK Electoral Commission
Dr Eike Mark Rinke, University of Leeds
Dr Robert Saunders, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Martin Smith, University of York
Professor David Soskice, London School of Economics
Dr Sam Power, University of Bristol
Dr Alan Wager, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
