First Past the Post under fire in Wales

October 18, 2024

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First Past the Post under fire in Wales

Over the past few hundred years, our society and democracy have developed and changed beyond recognition. However, our voting system has failed to keep pace. We believe that First Past the Post has no place in a modern democracy, and should be replaced by a system of Proportional Representation. If you agree, sign the petition. If you want to know why, read on:

Minority rule

The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it's the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we've had single-party 'majority' governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn't vote for and don't agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.

Proportional Representation means majority rule, not minority rule. With PR, any government must have a majority of votes behind it - so in order to govern, a party needs to either work collaboratively with other parties, or persuade most of us to vote for it.

Demand Real Democracy

The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.The idea of a minority ruling over the majority goes against our most basic ideas about democracy. But with First Past the Post, it’s the norm. For about 90% of the time since 1935 we’ve had single-party ‘majority’ governments, but not one of them had the support of a majority of voters. The Conservatives currently hold a majority of seats with just 43.6% of the votes. In the 2019 election they gained an extra 48 seats despite an increase of only 1.2% of the vote share. Almost since the first general election, politicians who most of us didn’t vote for and don’t agree with have had the power to govern the UK however they like.

More so than any other part of the UK, Wales is acutely aware of the impact that a voting system can have on its politics. In the 2024 general election, First Past the Post (FPTP) distorted the election result in Wales more so than in any other area of the country, with the Labour Party gaining 9 seats despite their vote share going down by 4%. This led to the party securing a massive 84% of the seats on just 37% of the vote, whilst the Conservatives received 18% of the vote but not a single seat.

This result comes against the backdrop of continued debate about the electoral system for the Senedd. Though this reform has had its critics, it is driven by an understanding that good governance is underpinned by a political system that accurately represents the views of the people. Welsh politicians know that when people have more effective representation they are more likely to have a greater level of engagement with the political system that governs them, going some way to restoring trust in our politics. Is it any wonder that people are starting to question the effectiveness and legitimacy of a FPTP system that proposes to treat them equally at the ballot box, only to obscure most people’s preferences in terms of the result in the legislature?

Electoral reform campaigners within Make Votes Matter and our friends at Electoral Reform Society Cymru have been working tirelessly to make the case for a different way of doing things. Three Welsh local authorities have recently held consultations on changing the voting system for local elections from FPTP to the proportional Single Transferable Vote (STV).

In Wales and England, local council elections – held under FPTP – are plagued by incredibly low turnout, and highly disproportional outcomes in which thousands of votes are lost, and thousands of voices go unheard. Some areas are such foregone conclusions that they aren’t even contested, meaning that residents don’t even get to vote. In fact, a staggering 41% of Gwynedd councillors were elected unopposed at the last election. That’s why MVM activists have been hitting the streets to make the case for a fairer, more representative and more accountable politics.

In the public consultations in Gwynedd and Powys, participants resoundingly disowned FPTP, with 72.2% and 60.5% respectively calling for a change to Proportional Representation. Unfortunately, when it came to the council vote in Powys, a majority of the politicians decided to disregard the clear will of the people, and retain a FPTP system that gives their constituents an unequal vote.

The results of the public consultation in Ceredigion haven’t yet been released, but the process has already been criticised for biased wording. While the other councils asked neutrally-worded questions about which voting system their residents preferred, Ceredigion’s consultation asked residents if they wanted “A councillor who is local to you and is familiar with local issues? (This is best served by First Past the Post)” or “Between 3 and 6 Councillors who represent a large geographical area with a larger number of electors? The expectation is that these will have the same level of understanding of local issues. (This is best served by Single Transferable Vote).”

It looks like the defenders of the status quo don’t feel confident in defending their choice on its own merits, so have instead resorted to stacking the deck. If a majority of residents nonetheless opt for change, it would reveal a lot about the depth of public support for fairer votes.

Gwynedd councillors will make a final decision on adopting a fairer, proportional voting system in the coming days, and we anticipate that Ceredigion councillors will discuss the issue next month. In the meantime, we will be campaigning harder than ever to make the case for a political system that provides an equal voice and vote for all at every level of politics. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland already use forms of Proportional Representation for elections. It’s First Past the Post that is the outlier. With public support for change never higher, resistance to electoral reform can only last so long. Even if not this time, representative politics will win eventually.

Photo credit: Phil Hearing

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