Just the start: reflections on the fight for PR for Welsh councils

November 15, 2024

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Just the start: reflections on the fight for PR for Welsh councils

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.

By Lewis Norton, Welsh campaigns volunteer and member of the Young MVM executive.

In recent months, I, alongside other dedicated Make Votes Matter campaigners, took up the fight of encouraging residents in three Welsh councils (Gwynedd, Ceredigion, and Powys) to engage with consultations on replacing First Past the Post (FPTP) for local elections with the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Despite finding ourselves on the wrong side of several close results, there is every reason to believe that the future is bright for Welsh local democracy.

The Welsh context

To this point, elections to every local authority in Wales have been decided by FPTP. Characteristically, the system has delivered deeply disproportionate outcomes in Wales. Far be it to simply make the outcomes a poor account of what the electorate voted for, the Welsh local electoral system also has the track record of discarding voters’ ability to choose completely. In 2022, over 100,000 voters were denied the ability to vote in local elections courtesy of uncontested seats, with some of the worst offending councils for their proportion of uncontested seats being the consulting councils of Gwynedd (40.58%), Ceredigion (13.16%), and Powys (10.29%).¹

Councils now have the option to switch to STV for their elections², the system which is already used in Scottish local elections. However, several requirements needed to be fulfilled for this change to happen; the council needed to hold a consultation on the matter³; and the resolution to change the system needed to be passed by two-thirds of the total number of councillors by the 15th November three years before the next local elections⁴ (which for the 2027 Welsh local elections, set the deadline as this year). Regrettably, most of the 22 councils in Wales opted not to hold a consultation. But in the three councils that chose to do so – Gwynedd, Ceredigion, and Powys – our campaign for change hit the ground.

On the ground

Have you ever filled in a council consultation? I can put my hand up and say I never have (though I definitely look out for them more now). Here laid the biggest obstacle. With even some of the most engaged people often overlooking these consultations, it was imperative to raise awareness and encourage people to submit responses. Over several weekends, we campaigned in each of the three councils spreading the message of local electoral reform.

Over the course of the two weekends I was present, in Bangor and Aberystwyth, the engagement with the public was overwhelmingly positive. Take-up of leaflets exceeded expectations, and a lot of passersby stopped to have a conversation. Many people, especially in Bangor, where the council (Gwynedd) has over 40% of its seats won uncontested¹, were shocked to learn about the distorting effect that the current system has on its council make-up. Naturally, people have questions and concerns about big change, but open conversations with a wide range of people definitely showed that the appetite for reform is strong when people are made aware of the pitfalls of FPTP. The campaign for change brought together people from across the political divide: from Plaid Cymru to Conservative, Liberal Democrat to Labour, the desire for a better democracy is not confined to partisan boundaries. What resulted was a strong, cross-party presence, focused on informing residents of the opportunity to deliver meaningful change.

Leafleting at Owain Glyndŵr Square
(Aberystwyth) with Cormac Manning (right)

Campaigning around the Bangor Clock Tower

Outcomes

First up was Powys County Council. Public support for change was palpable, with 60.2% of consultation respondents – out of nearly 1300, a comparatively huge tally for such an exercise – declaring STV to be their preferred system. Regrettably, however, when it came to a vote, a majority of councillors – in what will appear to many as an act of wilful self-interest – chose to ignore the clear wishes of local residents and to retain FPTP.

A week later, Cyngor Gwynedd held its vote. Preceded by even more emphatic consultation results (72.2% this time backing STV), councillors voted convincingly in favour of STV, but support failed to reach the two-thirds threshold necessary to trigger the change, falling short by just one vote.

And in Ceredigion, a similar pattern: a clear consultation verdict from the public (67% for STV) – especially remarkable given the questionable wording of the text – and a council vote in favour of change, only to be thwarted by the two-thirds requirement.

So, for the time being at least, Ceredigion, like Gwynedd and Powys, will be stuck with a FPTP voting system that doesn’t have the support of local residents.

2027 and beyond

To have come so close is tough to take. Yet amongst the disappointment, our campaign also offers plenty of positives for the longer-term.

Unfazed by procedural obstacles, residents made their voices heard in loud disapproval of the current system. Councillors in Powys, Gwynedd and Ceredigion know that their voting system does not have the support of their electorate, and two of the three councils officially support change. Even in the narrowest of defeats, what started in Powys, Gwynedd and Ceredigions may well be the beginning of a domino effect.

We can be proud of the difference we made. Yes, there will be no Welsh councils leaving FPTP behind for the 2027 local elections, but there is every reason to believe that more could be open to it in future. These results should give us the encouragement and motivation to continue the fight for a more representative democracy.

Electoral Reform Society, Elections Cancelled: Over 100,000 Welsh voters to be denied a vote. https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/elections-cancelled-over-100000-welsh-voters-to-be-denied-a-vote/ ↩︎
Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, s.5(1)(b) ↩︎
Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, s.8(5) ↩︎
Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, s.9 ↩︎

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