Changing the voting system for election to the House of Commons to direct proportional representation (i.e. where seats are awarded in direct proportion to the total votes cast in the country as a whole).

General elections using the current first-past-the–post system lead to substantial differences between the share of votes and share of seats and therefore do not lead to a Parliament reflecting the will of the people.  Major parties normally do better in terms of seats and minor parties worse.  Similarly there are geographical distortions with, for example, the largest number of voters in England supporting the Conservative Party in the 2005 general election but with Labour getting 90 more English seats.

Proportional representation is used in about 75 countries for their national elections, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Bishop Desmond Tutu wrote in 1994: 'The system of proportional representation ensures that virtually every constituency in the country will have a hearing in the national and provincial legislatures.'  In December 2009 Austin Mitchell, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, said in a Westminster Hall debate: 'I want to put the case for proportional representation….  I urge that those issues, particularly proportional representation, be put to the people in a referendum, which will allow them - not us - to decide whether they want them.'

In all the UK election process decisions made since 1997, such as for the devolved assemblies, mayor-led local authorities and European Parliamentary contests, proportional representation is used in order to give a fairer result and to allow minor parties to be represented.  

Both major traditional parties at Westminster have resisted this for general elections without explicitly explaining why.  However it is clear that their real reason for this failure is that they realise that introducing proportional representation at Westminster will lead to both major parties losing a substantial number of their current MPs who, perhaps understandably from their point of view, act as usual like turkeys who do not want to vote for Christmas.

As a key part of its appeal to Liberal Democrat voters, Labour said in its 1997 Manifesto that it would have a referendum on proportional representation.  The Manifesto included the explicit pledge 'we are committed to a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons.  An independent commission on voting systems will be appointed early to recommend a proportional alternative to the first past the post system.'  The Jenkins Commission was duly appointed and it reported in October 1998.  However despite the clear Manifesto pledge no action was taken by the Government on the Jenkins report.  

The 2001 Labour Manifesto promised an assessment of the working of the different electoral systems that had been installed in Scotland and Wales and for mayoral elections since 1997.  However the Government did nothing substantive towards this.  The 2005 Labour Manifesto was even more watered down.  It promised to review the existing electoral systems and then vaguely stated that a referendum 'remains the right way to agree any change for Westminster' but it did not promise actually to hold such a referendum.

With its currently weak electoral position, the Labour Party is again exploring ways of specifically increasing its appeal on Liberal Democrat issues.  In February 2010 Gordon Brown announced that MPs would be asked to vote on an Alternative Vote system, subject to an authorising referendum.  This is however not a proportional representation system.  The Jenkins Commission stated: 'AV on its own suffers from a stark objection.  It offers little prospect of a move towards greater proportionality, and in some circumstances, and those the ones which certainly prevailed at the last election and may well do so for at least the next one, it is even less proportional that FPTP.'  Gordon Brown also did not explain why people should believe this pledge any more than the same 1997 pledge described above.

Prior to tabling its legislation for proper proportional representation, the Jury Team will set up a commission to review the work of the Jenkins Commission and to recommend the best way in which to implement it, taking into account national and local considerations, experience and voter preferences.

The electorate is strongly supportive of full proportional representation with 55% in favour and only 17% against.  

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