One of the country’s foremost experts in constitutional issues, Professor Sir Vernon Bogdanor, has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a National Commission on Electoral Reform.
Writing in The Times, Bogdanor said:
“in the 1950s, governments secured nearly 50 per cent of the vote. Few then worried about minor deviations from proportionality. The argument loses plausibility when our two-party system has been replaced by a five-party system — six in Scotland and Wales — all scoring between 10 per cent and 30 per cent in opinion polls. A party can then, as in 2024, secure a majority on just over 30 per cent of the vote. Is a government democratically legitimate if two thirds of the voters do not want it?”
”Burnham proposed a national commission on electoral reform. He was right to do so. In a healthy democracy the electoral system should ensure that the majority rules and that all significant minorities are adequately represented. First past the post does neither.”
To read the full piece, head to The Times’ website.
In February, Bogdanor was among more than 50 leading academics that signed an open letter warning that the collision of First Past the Post with multi-party politics was creating new risks for Britain.
