FPTP: A broken system.

Let there be no confusion: alternative vote is not the panacea to our democratic deficiencies.  It is, however, a step forward.  A step forward for democratic legitimacy; a step forward for empowering the electorate; and a step forward for fairer votes.

My case for backing the Yes Campaign on May 5^th is not because I see the alternative vote as the best electoral system but because I think the first-past-the-post system is a broken one.

I believe the cornerstone to any functioning democracy is one that has the support of its people.  But when we have MPs, like in Norwich South, who are elected without the consent of a majority of voters, it means the MP cannot claim to be representative of her constituents.  We need a system that promotes MPs to appeal to larger section of the population.  If voters can express their support in a more detailed manner through ordered preferences then we will achieve this.

On the other extreme, first-past-the-post produces a landslide effect nationally.  It is entirely disproportionate.  The case of Hampstead & Kilburn exemplifies this:  Glenda Jackson, the Labour candidate won a plurality of just 43 votes.  When this scenario is replicated across the country, we have a composition of Parliament that is unreflective of the electorate’s wishes.  In 2005, Labour received 35% of the vote, yet, due to the discrepancy between votes cast and winning seats, won a disproportionate 55% of seats.

What’s the problem with this, I hear?  It delivers a strong, effective government – surely this is a good thing.  Quite the contrary.  It delivers an unaccountable, dominant government – an ‘elective dictatorship’, as Lord Hailsham once said.  The strong majority of a government in Parliament, created by the current electoral system, creates an all-powerful executive.  In Tony Blair’s first two terms, Labour were never defeated on any bill.  Under Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives were only defeated once.

This is worrying.  Not just because there is a severe lack of accountability but also dangerous on practical grounds.  Dominant executives mean the country is more susceptible to wrong, unpopular decisions.  Here I cite the Iraq war, draconian control orders on terror suspects and the Poll Tax.  Under first-past-the-post, governments have and will continue to make serious errors of judgements.  Why?  Because our flawed electoral system lets them do so.

Britain prides itself as a pluralist democracy.  This is not entirely true.  The sheer number of political parties is not enough.  They must have a reasonable chance of entering Parliament, especially when they have sufficient support to do so.  The question begs – why are UKIP, who received 0.6% of the vote in 2010, not represented in Parliament?  The electoral system, that’s why.  We need to “break the mould” of the two-party system.

If we are to enhance our democracy in terms of legitimacy, accountability and representation, then we must vote Yes in May.  First-past-the-post is a broken system.  Can we fix it? Yes we can!*

*Apologies to Bob the Builder