Twelve months ago the general election saw Labour win, supposedly with a landslide but with a mere 34% of the vote.
Starmer initially said that restoring trust in politics was “the battle that defines our political era.” But the latest British Social Attitudes survey report reveals that only 12% of the public trust governments to put country before party.
Democracy is in crisis. Our system is producing government after government elected on only a small minority of the vote, and people have had enough. Rebuilding trust must begin with representation. No wonder the same survey shows that support for changing the voting system is now at a record 60%.
This is not all about Labour. In 2029, there is a very real risk we could wake up to a government that under 30% of the population voted for. Whether it’s Farage, Badenoch, or Starmer, no one party should speak for Britain alone. Which is why I joined the organisation Make Votes Matter, which campaigns for proportional representation.
Only by empowering every voter, regardless of their constituency, can we begin to rebuild a genuinely democratic society. The UK is the only country in Europe, apart from Belarus, that uses the “First Past the Post” voting system. That alone should tell you how undemocratic it is. It is time for politicians to trust the people by allowing us each a vote that truly counts.
