‘Conference backed PR a year ago – now Labour must fix first past the post’

This year’s Labour conference is designed to be an upbeat and inspiring affair: the final battery charge for the faithful ahead of the looming general election. Knowing it is likely the last conference before the country goes to the polls always raises the stakes, and the party will be looking to energise the canvassers and prospective parliamentary candidates who will take Labour’s message to doorsteps across the nation.

This will also be the first conference in recent years not to be flooded by motions from Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) in support of proportional representation (PR). A record 150 CLPs submitted such a motion in 2021 – more than on any other single issue on record. Almost as many did so again in 2022 when, with new support from the largest trade unions, conference voted by an overwhelming margin in favour of implementing PR for general elections when Labour is next in government.

Having secured this historic win, the Labour for a New Democracy campaign set its sights on the 2023 National Policy Forum (NPF). Under the weight of unprecedented demand from the membership – with 44% of all CLP and branch submissions to the party’s policy consultations calling for PR – the NPF formally recognised that “the flaws of the current voting system are driving the distrust and alienation that we see in politics”, though it stopped short of recommending action.

Electoral reform is crucial to restoring trust in politics

With conference already having made clear its unequivocal support for PR – and the party now united behind damning criticism of first past the post – this year’s will be a very different conference for the #Labour4PR campaign. We are not seeking another conference motion debate on electoral reform. Labour’s view has already been made clear: there is consensus across the membership, unions and conference in favour of PR, and the whole party – leadership, shadow cabinet and all – have unanimously agreed that FPTP is causing alienation and distrust in politics. The task this year for pro-PR conference delegates and volunteers is to ask: what is Labour going to do about it in government?

It’s an important question. Labour is riding the coinciding waves of public revulsion towards the Tories and enthusiasm for something better, and our poll lead makes a Labour government feel tantalisingly close. Yet the cautious, don’t-jinx-it optimism that will be visible all over Liverpool cannot hide the fact that governing is going to be harder than ever – no matter how big the majority. With a wrecked economy and public services crumbling, an incoming Labour government will be in a far worse situation than in 1997. Yet, after almost 15 years of Tory misrule – and day-to-day life such a struggle for so many – people are desperate for things to truly change.

Electoral reform is crucial both because of what it would signal and what it would do. It would signal that Labour is ready to fight back against the distrust and alienation that is becoming evermore embedded in our political system. By ensuring everyone has a vote that counts, we would be asking the British people for the only real trust there is: that which is reciprocated. And as a large and growing body of evidence shows, proportional electoral systems are essential to high levels of public faith in democracy.

Reform would limit the damage done by future Tory governments

But not only would reform help restore trust in politics – it would also safeguard the material improvements Labour in government makes to people’s lives. It would end the repeated tragedy of Conservative majority government on a minority of the vote.

Many of the most important victories of past Labour governments ended up as sticking plasters – as Keir Starmer would call them – not because they were not good policies, but because of what followed them. In the last 40 years alone, the Tories have twice gone on 15 year rampages on as little as 36% of the vote, trashing public services and shattering communities with nothing even resembling public consent. If we leave FPTP intact, there is no doubt that they will do so again.

The heady optimism of this year’s conference will soon give way to a sober determination as we head towards the coming election. Beyond that, we hope, lies the relief of victory and then the painstaking work of government. If we get there, we must do what is necessary to restore trust in our politics. We cannot afford to forget that the public’s disaffection is not only towards the Conservative Party, but also towards a political system that isn’t working.

Labour knows that FPTP causes distrust and alienation because – as Starmer says – it means millions of people know their votes do not count. We need to change this by delivering on Labour’s promise of a new government and a new way of governing – or risk reaping the consequences.

At conference, Labour for a New Democracy is holding a Saturday night fringe event, Sunday night rally co-hosted by ASLEF and MU and Tuesday night reception with Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform, as well as briefing sessions for conference delegates.