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Nigel Farage has renewed calls for an overhaul of the Westminster electoral system – but should Britain abandon first past the post?
Reform UK argues that the system is “broken,” and even some Conservative commentators have questioned how governments can wield significant power with a comparatively weak mandate.
In last week’s election, Labour received about 35 per cent of the popular vote but secured 63 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons, resulting in a landslide 174-seat majority.
Given the low turnout of 60 per cent, only about one in five adult Britons actively voted for Keir Starmer’s programme of change, meaning Starmer is now governing with one of the lowest shares of the vote for any administration since 1923.
Within the more proportional systems, such as Single Transferable Vote, there are different ways of electing MPs. With some, you only vote for a party, with others, you vote directly for candidates.
The Alternative Vote system, where an MP must win a majority of votes in a constituency with second and third preferences considered, was rejected in a 2011 referendum.
Now we want to know what you think. Would a different system be fairer?
Would you be happy to see more coalitions and fewer governments with a mandate for radical change under proportional representation? Or do you worry that this system would allow extremist parties easier access to parliament?
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