Reports from Electoral Reform Events and Seminars

LCER organises or jointly hosts a number of debates, seminars and public meetings during the course of the year. In addition, its members are invited to attend are variety of events related to electoral reform and revitalising our democracy. Here are reports from a selection of these:

Labour Party Conference 2004

And the accolade for best attended fringe meeting at Conference goes to … our very own electoral reform rally, “Voting Reform in a Third Term”, in our Make Votes Count/LCER Rally in its Sunday evening slot. The high attendance, over 200, and the numbers of young people present gave the lie to the strange death of Labour pluralism. There were keynote speeches by Peter Hain and Robin Cook. Our Chair, Anne Campbell spoke on local government and audience questions were chaired by Make Votes Count Chair, David Lipsey. Peter Hain spoke of the need to convince people that their vote matters and to give them a greater sense of ownership of the political process. In his view, introducing the Alternative Vote, a preferential system, was the most viable reform option: retaining the constituency link; increasing voter choice and being the most likely to be adopted by the party in the current political circumstances. He ended his speech on the optimistic note that, within the Government, “the door is just open for the argument to be made”.

Robin Cook made the eloquent case for proportional representation at the heart of a more pluralist, democratic political system. For him it is necessary that Parliament reflects the way Britain votes. A change to PR would not only diminish the neglect of core voters in favour of swing voters in a few marginal constituencies that the current system encourages, it would also be a bold and decisive policy for Labour’s third term. Robin concluded by reminding the audience of Mrs Thatcher’s comments before 1997 that the Conservatives cannot let Labour in as they would change the electoral system and they might not get in again – as powerful an argument now as it was then.

Anne Campbell rehearsed the arguments for PR for English local government citing the new Make Votes Count pamphlet, The Missing Modernisation. The success and popularity of the rally was noted by Peter Hain and the arguments reverberated through the conference fringe, Compass, Fabian, Electoral Reform Society and others. Thanks should go to the dedicated team of LCER executive members and MVC supporters who helped leaflet before the meeting.

Our Reformers’ Reception on Wednesday evening was an enjoyable event and a good opportunity for campaigners to meet each other and key supportive MPs, Anne Campbell, Richard Burden and Martin Linton.

Labour Spring Conference 2005

LCER/ERS/MVC’s fringe meeting at Labour’s Spring Conference in February gave another opportunity to engage in some useful number crunching ahead of the election. John Curtice presented his ideas on ‘will 2005 be different?’ and focused specifically on some of the potential impacts for the Labour party. His analysis gave the crowded room of delegates, including the Communication Workers’ General Secretary, Billy Hayes, and journalists much to discuss and reflect on. ERS Chief Executive Ken Ritchie spoke about the progress being made in Scotland and news of the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly, which had recommended an adapted form of STV for that province. Their referendum will take place on 17 May. Mary Southcott chaired, updating people on LCER plans in the run up to the election.

Power Inquiry

The POWER Inquiry has been set up to explore how political participation and involvement can be increased and deepened in Britain. The Inquiry aims to understand why the decline in popular participation and involvement in formal politics has occurred and to provide concrete and innovative proposals to reverse the trend. POWER is completely independent of any political party or organisation, and is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited, to mark their centenary year.

The Inquiry has been holding public hearings with individual witnesses as part of its evidence gathering programme. The first was on 9 December 2004 and focused on academic approaches to the issue of participation. In the discussion about turnout it was repeatedly mentioned that, irrespective of changes in political culture or the pull of civic duty, voting is simply irrational in many constituencies because of voting system. Three of the four academics questioned expressed favourable views on electoral reform and its potential for reconnecting people with ballot box politics. The consensus was that competitiveness at election time definitely helps and is most effective when combined with other measures to enhance democracy. The structure of political parties, financing of the party system, the nomination process and the powers of Parliament were all mentioned during the hearing and will no doubt be examined in greater detail during the course of the Inquiry.

Robin Cook at the Power Inquiry

Robin Cook gave evidence at a public session on 23 February. He was asked a series of questions about his perspective on the political system and the specifics of democratic reforms that he has proposed over the years. Like the academics, he commented that, thanks in part to FPTP, for many people not voting was a rational decision rather than a sign of apathy. But Robin’s main attack on the current system was that it incentivises political parties to target only the centre ground, addressing only a small number of floating voters rather than core supporters and the bulk of the electorate. In his view this has accentuated the homogenity and lack of colour of party politics that polls show is a turn-off. Robin felt that FPTP is “plainly creaking and groaning now we barely have a two party system any more”. Instead, he urged distinctiveness and pluralism, encouraged through adopting a proportional electoral system, to revive democratic engagement. Robin also took pleasure in furnishing the London-based audience with facts and anecdotes about the situation in Scotland. In particular, that turnout in the set of elections on 1 May 2003 was 15 per cent higher in Scotland than in England, helped by the attractions of having a PR election at the same time. He also highlighted the meaningful contribution of the Socialists and the Greens in the Scottish Parliament, which would never have happened without a PR system there.

The Power Inquiry is seeking submissions from members of the public. A list of questions and an online response form can be found on the Inquiry’s website. Closing date for submissions is 17 June. www.powerinquiry.org