Agenda item

Councillor Swainston presented her motion on notice. Councillor Marlow seconded the motion and reserved his right to speak.

Councillor E Buckmaster felt this was a political motion and said it was often raised by the Liberal Democrat party who failed to breakthrough in national polls. He said there were many countries with proportional representation (PR) but said they were not all good examples of decision making and it often led to the rise of right and left populist parties. He said it had been evident in the last local elections that residents were voting for specific candidates as they received more votes than the block party vote. He added that a PR system rarely enabled independents to be elected, like he had done. He said he opposed the motion.

Councillor Clements said he supported a lot of the motion but felt it was not clear what the council would be calling for. He said there were many electoral system under the PR heading and it was not clear in the motion if it was calling for a specific systems or just the general idea of PR.

Councillor Devonshire asked for clarification about the topic of the motion as he thought motions had to relate to the district.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said the motion did focus on this council and referenced the number of votes cast in the local elections and the Members sitting on the Council.

Councillor Goldspink said that she had been very frustrated knowing her vote in a national election would not count. She strongly supported the motion and believed that PR would be a much better system.

Councillor Marlow said that PR would provide an opportunity for many more people to have a vote and he supported the motion.

Councillor Brittain said he supported the motion and said it was the right of an individual to have a meaningful vote in an election and it was estimated that 70% of people did not have a meaningful vote under first past the post. He felt that the current electoral system caused a distortion of democracy and encouraged people to vote tactically which might mean voting for a party they did not support to stop another party being elected.

Councillor Williams said that the first past the post system created a negative democracy with people voting against what they did not believe in instead of voting for. He said this caused a build-up of resentment and disengagement.

Councillor Deering said he accepted that the motion was well intentioned but did not feel it was East Herts business and said his group would be voting against it.

Councillor Swainston summed up and said it was evident that first past the post did not deliver a strong and stable government. She accepted that her party might not do well out of PR but preferred to have a high level of resident and voter engagement in local politics.

The motion to support the motion having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - In Europe, only the UK and Belarus still use the archaic single-round First past the post (FPTP) for general elections. England also uses it for local elections. Internationally, Proportional Representation (PR) is used to elect the parliaments of more than 80 countries. These countries tend to be more representative, more inclusive and greener.

PR ensures all votes count, have equal value and that seats won, match votes cast. Under PR, MPs and Parliaments better reflect the age, gender and characteristics of both local communities and of the nation.

PR would also end minority rule. In 2019, 43.6% of the vote produced a UK government with 56.2% of the seats and 100% of the power. In 2005 Labour was elected with 35.2% of the votes cast yet received a majority of the seats. PR would have prevented “wrong winner” elections such as occurred in 1951 and February 1974.

Locally on East Herts District Council the Conservatives won all 50 seats in 2015 with only just half the votes cast. In 2019 they won 80% of the seats with 46% of the vote. In 2023 the Greens won more seats on East Herts District Council with 5% less of the vote than the Conservatives.

PR is already used to elect the parliaments and assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is also used for local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland and is being introduced in Wales. Its use should now be extended to include Westminster and local elections in England.

This Council therefore resolves to write to H.M. Government calling for a change in our outdated electoral laws and to enable Proportional Representation to be used for UK general elections and local elections in England.