Electoral Reform

During my time as a very active member of the Labour Party, there was always s difference of opinion, one of many, between those on the on the traditional right of the Party and those of us who believed that PR was a more democratic system of voting. First Past the Post will always favour Labour but will invariably produce Governments elected by less than 4 in every 10 of people voting. That, in my opinion is just one of the fundamental reasons why the total number of people turning out to vote has, until this election, been falling. Ironically, it is the FPTP voting system which has produced the current coalition perhaps as a result of many people voting tactically to try to ensure that, this time, their votes were not wasted and a change in the voting system could be made. At this election, there was a 65% turnout. This is a 4% increase on the previous election, when all expectations prior to polling day, were that turnout would be down.
Perhaps the Labour Party leadership election will produce a result which would allow me to rejoin a party of principle and vision rather a collection of populist opportunists called Nu Labour.
In his Compass publication THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, Jon Cruddas writes

Democracy
To build equality, to create community and to secure a sustainable future we
must strengthen our democracy. We need constitutional change and proportional
representation – to push power out of Whitehall and closer to the people.


Now there, if he stands, is a candidate that I would campaign for and support, if I were still a member of the Labour Party