The campaign for fair, equal votes is bread and butter politics for most Lib Dems. The idea that governments can win power on a minority of votes while other parties go significantly under-represented weakens the claim that the UK is a representative democracy. This is seen time and time again, with 2019 a particularly brutal example where the Conservatives gained a majority on just 43% of the vote while our own party gained over a million votes but fell back in the Commons.

First Past the Post leads to unrepresentative parliaments and unrepresentative governments – frequently resulting in policies that most voters are unhappy with, but which appeal to marginal seat voters. We know what the solution is: Proportional Representation, with STV as our preferred model.

PR treats voters equally, shown by countless fair elections around the world, but for decades our cause has been dismissed and ignored. The system is stacked against us of course. The current model deters those in power from implementing real change, but reform is possible. Just look at New Zealand where the country is going to the polls in October safe in the knowledge that the party political distribution of seats will by and large reflect votes won across the country.

The UK could very well be on the cusp of a New Zealand moment of its own where First Past the Post is rejected in favour of a system of Proportional Representation. For the first time in a long time, there’s a real sense that change could very well come to Westminster.

There was some sense of that in 2010 but the odds were even more stacked against us back then. Being in power with a party so opposed to reform limited our options from the outset. Many of the challenges then still persist but there are some major differences.

Electoral reform movements are active like never before. Trade unions are lining up in support of Proportional Representation. Labour supported reform at its conference last year and most recently recognised that our voting system is flawed in its draft party programme. The Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform (LDER) are working hard to ensure that more voters are clear on how the broken voting systems lead to flawed policies that the majority doesn’t want ahead of the General Election. Our party is working hard to make the next election the last one held under First Past the Post. These significant developments should not be overlooked.

Crucially, there is a credible pathway to electoral reform via progressive governance with liberal influence emerging as the Conservatives continue to fall out of favour with the electorate.

This isn’t all to say that we should be complacent. Nothing is guaranteed in politics and life, not to mention we’ve been here before. Blair promised reform in 1997 and look how that turned out. More recently, across the pond, Canadian reformers felt the sting of Trudeau’s betrayal on fair votes.

Nonetheless, the route to PR next year isn’t a pipedream. The best post-election scenario is one where Liberal Democrats do well and have a real influence (the shape of which is up for debate and circumstance). It’s also one where Labour wins more seats than the Conservatives, with something in their manifesto calling for transformational democratic change, and needs our support. Liberal Democrat MPs can leverage for real change on a whole range of issues including Proportional Representation.

On top of that we must have a focus on electoral change during the campaign. It won’t be the central issue for obvious reasons but calling for democratic improvements, with fair votes as a key part of that, should be a key election pledge that appeals to voters let down by the Conservative merry-go-round of prime ministers.

Our democracy is crying out for reform. It’s a travesty that we’re set to enter the second quarter of this century as one of just two European countries using First Past the Post. That said, there’s a real sense of hope that change is coming. Our party can and must drive that change.

Note

If you’re coming to our autumn conference, the Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform have a stall (stand 31), as well as a fringe event (Sunday evening 18:15 – 19:15, Bournemouth International Centre, Meyrick Suite) with Unlock Democracy and Make Votes Matter: “Clean up our Politics. Restore our Democracy.” Come along and say hello!

* Richard Wood is a member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and works in Westminster. He sits on the Electoral Reform Society Council, as well as the Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform executive committee.