Change voting systems (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Change voting systems

4:37pm Thursday 4th December 2008

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Bill Edwards stated (Times, November 19) that “the British people elected the current Government”.

Not so. About 35 per cent of those who voted at the 2005 General Election voted for the party that formed the Government and about 65 per cent voted for other candidates.

The first-past-the-post system delivered a majority in Parliament for Labour when almost two-thirds of those casting a vote did not support it. If the large number of people who did not vote at all is taken into account, the democratic deficit is even worse.

Proportional voting systems are gradually being introduced into UK elections, but at present we have a halfway house situation where some of our representatives are elected under a fair votes system and some not – and it also depends on where you live in the UK.

For example, next June voters in Essex will vote for their county councillors under a first-past-the-post system and on the same day for their Members of the European Parliament under a proportional system.

There has been a dramatic fall in public confidence in politicians, which is well documented.

Some of the ways that the damage can be reversed are to improve accountability, openness with information – and move to having fair votes systems for all elections, so that everyone’s vote counts equally.

There are systems of proportional representation which ensure that the constituency link is maintained, and at the same time delivering a result that actually mirrors the way people vote.

JAMES ABBOTT

Green Party parliamentary candidate for Witham, Rivenhall

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