Liberal Democrat MPs challenge government during GE2024 review

At a recent Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, two Liberal Democrat MPs challenged the government over its inaction and indifference in fixing our electoral systems. 

Liberal Democrat MP Luke Taylor directly challenged Rushanara Ali MP, the Minister for Homelessness and Democracy, over the government's attitude to voting reform. He asked the minister to confirm the glaring contradiction of the Labour Party's stated view that flaws in the currect First-Past-the-Post system contribute to distrust in the voting system; yet the Labour Government's position is that this is not a priority on which to focus. Revealingly (but perhaps not unsurpisingly), the minister's response completely ignored the question.

During the same meeting, LD MP Charlotte Cane raised the widespread public lack of trust in politics, noting that many voters feel their votes never count in elections. Unfortunately, the response from the Minister was one of deep concern but no urgency for making improvements.

Later, Luke Taylor again questioned the government over its indifference to electoral reform, this time over rules on election spending. The government minister admitted that they had no plans to act over malign foreign donations or unfair spending limits.

Overall, the government's response was one of complacency. It highlights the pressing need of groups such as ours to campaign for electoral reform and work with other organisations to restore public trust in our democratic process.