A CAMPAIGN to ‘demand democracy’ and call for a fairer voting system in the UK was held in Bromsgrove last Saturday.
Local residents from across the political spectrum gathered at the Lickey Hills for a socially distanced rally.
Members of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green parties want to see proportional representation introduced for the country’s elections.
They say it is a fairer voting system which makes each vote count equally and puts an end to parties ruling with a majority of MPs when they did not receive a majority of votes.
Proportional representation is used in elections all over the world and the UK is just one of the three of 43 countries in Europe that does not use PR.
Local resident and Lib Dem campaigner Sam Evans spoke in front of the socially distanced crowd.
He said: “We’re gathering to demand democracy.
“At the last general election over 22million votes that were cast were ignored as either they went to non-winning candidates or were surplus votes for winning candidates.”
He added no party had ever won more than 50 per cent of the vote at a general election since in 1935.
“We need to put an end to parties winning a majority of MPs without a majority of votes from the public.
“By introducing a fairer voting system we can have more collaborative politics.
“I’m sure most people agree we need to see more politicians working together where there is common ground rather than the constant back and forth of the Conservatives and Labour.”
I've had a go at making a video campaign explaining why we need a fairer voting system.
I encourage activists from across the political spectrum to get involved with @MakeVotesMatter campaign to #DemandDemocracy and tag your local MP!@sajidjavid, it's time to scrap FPTP pic.twitter.com/9viGgZpTji
— Samuel Evans 🔶️ (@SamuelMarcEvans) August 22, 2020
Event organiser and Lib Dem member Dr David Nicholl added: “Proportional representation leads to greater voter engagement and all votes are equal.
“Rather than voting tactically you vote for the person you want, rather than voting to not get someone else elected.”
Campaigners across the country took part in the event led by Make Votes Matter, by sharing photos and videos explaining why the current ‘first past the post’ voting system needed replacing.
