‘Labour must lead on electoral reform before Britain’s democratic crisis deepens’

British democracy is headed for a crisis. 

The argument for First Past the Post (FPTP) has traditionally rested on two simple claims: it delivers strong governments with decisive mandates, and it prevents extremist politics, and politicians, from getting a foothold in our institutions. After a decade and a half of chaos – in large part under huge Conservative majorities – and with the hard-right in Parliament, it’s fair to say these claims are looking increasingly dubious.

The political landscape in 2026 is altogether different from that of the past century. The electorate has been fragmenting for sixty years;  in the 1950s, the Conservatives and Labour combined won 95% of the vote. In 2024 that figure was just 58%.  Over 50 leading academics – experts in law, constitutional issues and democracy – have warned that we are reaching a tipping point where FPTP election results risk appearing “random and arbitrary”. 

Labour must not become defenders of a broken status quo – the old two-party dominance that made First Past the Post appear workable has given way. We now have a five-or-six-party landscape in which outcomes hinge less on broad national consent and more on a narrow geographic concentration of “swing seats” and tactical voting. The result is an increasingly disillusioned electorate, that feels compelled to drift towards extremist politics in an effort to realise the changes which FPTP has, so far, failed to deliver.

READ MORE: ‘Labour won’t win back left defectors with squeeze messaging alone’

As public distrust has fallen to record lows, and turnout has dropped, the Conservatives, and Labour, have continued to win large majorities on ever-smaller margins of public support. Governments are formed with little more than a third of the vote, and millions of votes cast are effectively “lost”, with no bearing on who governs. This is not sustainable – for Labour or for the country.

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Pollsters, business leaders and academic experts are increasingly vocal in their warnings: when large sections of the electorate feel permanently unheard, political and economic instability follows. We have already lived through a decade of constitutional shocks, populist insurgencies and political churn, at the global level. Pretending that Britain is somehow the exception to the rule is wishful thinking. Trust in UK central government is among the lowest of the 40 OECD developed countries, and the lowest by far of the G7. Meanwhile the only countries with high and rising public satisfaction with democracy all use proportional representation.

In Scotland, we have lived with multi-party politics for a generation. Holyrood has operated for a quarter of a century under a system designed to balance constituency representation with proportional fairness. And during my time as a councillor in the City of Edinburgh, I was elected twice under Proportional Representation through the  Single Transferable Vote system. Edinburgh’s council chamber looks like the city itself: politically mixed, diverse in outlook, and, mostly, free from single-party-dominance. Crucially, voters can see themselves reflected in the outcome and politics is more stable, with negotiated legislative frameworks and multi-party backing protecting key policies from abrupt reversals, and encouraging planning beyond election cycles.

This is not about party advantage – it is about the security and stability of our politics. If the foundations of our democratic system are left to rot, we will all suffer. Labour, as the party of democratic reform, has a responsibility to lead this conversation. We did it before, when we helped create the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd, and I believe that further constitutional change will only strengthen, rather than weaken, our union and our democracy. 

Labour was elected with a mandate for change. And, at a time when many are frustrated with the slow rate of progress, acknowledging and addressing the issues with FPTP could be a quick, and relatively easy, win. A National Commission on Electoral Reform, established by the government, would be a practical first step, bringing much-needed clarity to an issue that has all too often been treated like a bargaining chip between political leaders. 

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There are many pressing issues that the government currently faces, ranging from the future of healthcare to housebuilding and infrastructure challenges. This can’t, however, be an excuse for ignoring the need to rebuild public trust in Westminster. With 53% of the public now in favour of electoral reform, we must be bold. Labour must now show we are listening, and lead this change. We must not bind our party’s – and the country’s – fate to a failing and chaotic system that could wipe away all of the progress we make in this parliament.

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