Last week, Andy Burnham became Labour leader and thus Prime Minister. Labour hope that his leadership will reverse the party’s political misfortunes and poor polling under Keir Starmer, while many hope that his new policy priorities and governing style would bring about vital change. Electoral reform advocates hope that such change will include Proportional Representation, given his past and recent vocal support for it and the proposal of an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform. However, the latest speculated change, as reported by several outcomes, may come in the form of compulsory voting.

Compulsory voting, otherwise known as universal civic duty or mandatory voting, is the requirement that all registered voters must participate in elections. At present, twenty-one countries have compulsory laws, from free multiparty democracies such as Australia to the one-party dictatorship of North Korea. It may or may not be enforced, with potential penalties (outside the DPRK) including fines, loss of the right to vote, the denial of licenses or passports, or nothing. Registered voters may be exempted because of age, illiteracy, illness, disability, religious objection, occupation, housing status or force majeure (circumstances beyond personal control).

The proposed introduction of compulsory voting under Burnham is disconcerting due to the actions of past Labour Prime Ministers, notably Tony Blair and Starmer himself. They endorsed PR while in opposition, whether during their leadership campaigns or as part of their party’s policy platform. However, once they got into power with huge majorities granted to them by First Past the Post, they either failed to deliver on it citing other priorities or launched make-work activity such as the Jenkins Commission to give the impression that change was coming.

I have previously pleaded a case for why the Liberal Democrats should consider supporting UCDV. In theory, it would help to increase voter turnout and safeguard against voter suppression. While this did garner some criticism from fellow members as being illiberal in principle, it was made with reference to the wider framework of Liberal Democrat policy. Were UCDV to be implemented, it would need to be preceded by other reforms such as PR and automatic voter registration. Additionally, to make UCDV as accommodating as possible, it would need to incur minimal penalties such as a £20.00 fine (reminiscent of Australia’s system), provide understandable exemptions from voting and allow voters the opportunity to express discontentment through spoilt ballots or a None of the Above option.

There is the risk that the implementation of compulsory voting under Burnham will stall the momentum behind the implementation of PR, either papering over or worsening the cracks in our democracy. The domination of two parties, an unresponsive political system, low turnout and a highly polarising political culture is rooted in the FPTP system. With instability within both Conservative and Labour majority governments dispelling the argument that it leads to strong and stable government, voters are increasingly supporting other parties despite the resultant distortion of election outcomes or have decided not to vote. If only compulsory voting were to be implemented, FPTP would continue to distort election results, even more so as discontented voters spoil ballots or back joke or disruptor parties in lieu of not voting. A lack of access accommodation for voters would constitute a form of entrapment of non-voters, while deregistration to avoid voting would still constitute voter suppression.

The possible implementation of compulsory voting by the Burnham Government is, for now, speculative. He may well stand apart from his predecessors and implement PR, or he may follow the same path of inaction. Regardless, we Liberal Democrats should stress that PR is the most effective means of remedying the ills facing our democracy and that compulsory voting under the current system is a poor substitute.

* Samuel James Jackson is the Chair of the Policy Committee of the Yorkshire and the Humber Liberal Democrats and had served as the Liberal Democratic candidate in Halifax during the 2024 general election.