October 22, 2021

Unite vote to oppose First Past the Post hailed ‘important shift’ in campaign for fair votes

Today, Unite Policy Conference voted to support Proportional Representation in Westminster elections for the first time in our history. Our political class has failed working people and our system is broken. It is time to change our democracy.
Credit: PFTM,

Unite members have voted to oppose Westminster’s First Past the Post electoral system pledging support for moves towards a new voting system in UK elections. “Today, Unite Policy Conference voted to support Proportional Representation in Westminster elections for the first time in our history. Our political class has failed working people and our system is broken. It is time to change our democracy.” Unite’s general secretary …

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September 30, 2021

80% of CLPs back PR at Labour Conference but motion falls

Labour Party Conference
Credit: PFTM,

On Monday, Labour conference debated and voted on a motion to back PR, adding a pledge to their next manifesto. Despite the overwhelming support of local party delegates, 80% of whom supported the campaign for Labour to back reform, due to opposition from several of the party’s affiliated trade unions the motion was narrowly defeated. The motion, backed by the Labour …

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May 28, 2021

Julian Vaughan: The push for PR gathers momentum

ASLEF union-picture
Credit: Julian Vaughan,

I am proud to have written the motion on a fairer voting system that was recently adopted by ASLEF at their Annual Assembly of Delegates. However, in a democratic union like ASLEF, success is only achieved with the support of branch delegates from across the railway network. I am particularly grateful to my colleague who put the motion to the …

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April 9, 2021

New polling reveals just how powerless people feel over Westminster

Big Ben
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Two-thirds of the public feel powerless over decision making and feel that they have little or no opportunities to influence decisions made at Westminster’, according to new Savanta ComRes polling. In a week that has seen lobbying allegations dominate the news, the poll for the Politics for the Many campaign and the Electoral Reform Society finds that just 5% of …

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March 12, 2021

A bold new collection of essays from Politics for the Many and Open Labour

The New Foundations
Credit: Robin Wilde,

“My vote won’t make a difference”. How many times have you heard this? This week we saw new research suggesting this feeling is the number one reason why people aren’t planning on voting this May.   The sad fact is, it’s hard to blame people. Democracy in Britain is pale imitation of the real thing. Westminster isn’t working – and it’s warping our …

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January 17, 2020

The core of Britain’s constitution is the zombie-like relic of what was, and in many ways still is, an imperial state

Zombie
Credit: Kevin Phillips, Pixabay

As the self-styled ‘home’ of parliamentary sovereignty, Britain has commonly been assumed to have a system of government is rational, ordered and organised with sufficient checks and balances. Yet as Brexit has drawn more attention to daily parliamentary goings-on, we have found that it is, in fact, wrapped up in pageantry, ritual and confusion, with even the participants unsure of …

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September 19, 2019

Why unions are getting serious about the need for political reform

Lynn Henderson and Jess Garland
Credit: PFTM,

A week before the court case over prorogation reached the Supreme Court, the ERS’ Dr Jess Garland told TUC Congress delegates: “Our constitution is just a set of gentlemen’s agreements, with weak parliamentary checks and balances, made worse by an unelected upper chamber. This isn’t a democratic situation.” The ‘gentleman’s agreement’ has clearly broken down.  TUC Congress in Brighton saw …

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