Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called for a major change in the way we vote in general elections - despite Sir Keir Starmer not backing the reform. The Labour leader faces a split with party members over calls to support ditching the first past the post system (FPTP) and replace it with proportional representation (PR).
The shake-up is due to be debated at the party’s conference in Liverpool this week, but Sir Keir has said it is 'not a priority' for him while focused on getting into power. But Mr Burnham, who is seen as a possible future challenger for the Labour leadership, blamed the current voting system on making Britain one of the most regionally divided nations in the world.
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"It’s a lot to do with the hoarding of political power in a very small place, SW1A 0AA," he told an event held on the conference’s fringes by the Onward think tank. "First past the post combined with the whips system in Parliament concentrates power in the executive to 50 to 100 pairs of hands.
"That in my view has given us the country we've got, that doesn't work for everybody, everywhere. We need to talk about rewiring Britain to make power flow differently throughout Britain. It's got to be a proportional system for the Commons."
Mr Burnham said the whip system is “forcing people to adopt the London-centric policies of the civil service”, as he also called for an elected senate of nations and regions and “maximum” devolution.
Some Labour members have argued that the FPTP system – in which the candidate with the most votes in a constituency becomes an MP – favours the Tories and encourages voter apathy. They are calling for Labour to commit to introducing PR, ensuring a distribution of seats more closely linked to the number of votes cast.
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Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, is among those who have expressed support for PR. But Sir Keir told the Observer: "There are a lot of people in the Labour party who are pro-PR but it's not a priority and we go into the next election under the same system that we've got, first past the post, and I'm not doing any deals going into the election or coming out of the election."
Meanwhile, Mr Burnham backed shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh's commitment to bringing back railways into public ownership, but said he did not support the same move for energy firms. "I think energy is different. I think rail has to be run as a national system given the complexity of the timetable. When it comes to energy we're moving towards a more localised approach with renewable energies, solar wind," he said.
"So what I would say is start thinking about more public ownership of energy but not necessarily going in and nationalising everything."
However, he did show a slight difference of opinion from Sir Keir's opposition to renationalising energy giants, by saying a limited amount may be beneficial. "Maybe some nationalisation because I think some might be justified," Mr Burnham said.
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