Decision

Council resolved to:

Support the following motion:

This Council notes that:

• Per the Electoral Reform Society, at the 2024 General Election more than half of votes cast did not influence the result.

• The 2024 election returned the largest government majority since 1997, on the back of less than 34% of the vote – the smallest government vote share since McDonald’s 1923 minority government.

• More in Common’s latest MRP projects that the next general election could return Reform nearly MPs on just 27% of the vote.

• Also per the ERS, the projected national vote share from this year’s local elections were fragmented, with Reform achieving the highest total on just 26% or 27% vote shares, depending on how the projection is made.

• This year’s Oxfordshire elections saw five councillors elected on less than 30% of the vote.

• The new Prime Minister, as well as several of his rivals for that position, has expressed support for proportional voting.

• More-proportional Additional Member and Single Transferable Vote elections have been conducted in all nations of the UK except England.

• As of September 7th, the government's Local Government Reorganisation programme has been thrown into confusion and delay. This presents an opportunity to implement truly fair votes for our next generation of local authorities.
• That the Prime Minister in his speech to Labour party conference announced his intention to create a commission on electoral reform

This Council believes that:

• Every vote cast in any UK election should have a bearing on the result.

• In an era of increasingly-fragmented politics, our electoral system must ensure that all elected bodies command a mandate from the majority of voters.

• It is therefore vital that the Government firmly backs the use of a proportional electoral system, and in particular that one should be used at the next general election.
• That electoral reform should apply to all levels of government and should involve a fully proportional system
• That the implementation of local government reorganisation presents a unique opportunity to begin an introduction of a proportional electoral system in England.

This Council resolves:

• To ask the Leader to write to the Prime Minister to request that they promptly bring forth legislation to introduce a proportional electoral system at all levels of government.
• To ask that the leader include in her letter a specific request that the first elections to new unitary authorities are conducted under a proportional system and a call for the government’s commission to investigate the implementation of a fully proportional system to all levels of democracy.