It’s time for fair votes in English local government

Local councils are supposed to represent their communities. But often the make-up of council chambers fail to reflect how people voted – The First Past the Post system throws millions of votes on the scrapheap. 

In London alone, 90% of wards with more than one councillor are represented by just one party, leaving hundreds of thousands of voters without a voice. 

It’s unfair, undemocratic and completely fails to represent the views of voters. But there is a better way. 

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This election must be the last under our broken winner-takes all system. 

Northern Ireland has used the fairer and proportional Single Transferable Vote system for local elections for decades – and in 2007 Scotland joined them. Wales has given councils the right to choose. Now it's time England caught up.

It’s time for a proportional system where no one has to ‘hold their nose’ at the ballot box, and where there is healthy competition – rather than a politics of safe seats and ‘one-party states where everyone loses. 

Britain deserves a democracy where votes aren’t thrown on the electoral scrapheap – but where there is real choice and where our voices are always heard. 

Background

Local elections in England use the first past the post system, which means local councils often look nothing like how people vote. Here are just a few of the recent results.