It's time to change
Political inequality, alienation and distrust: the urgent need for fair, equal votes
We believe political reform must include electoral reform, proportional representation giving everyone equal power to hold members of parliament properly to account…[and] according to the social attitude survey, a majority of the public agree with us.
Ed Davey, responding to the King’s Speech, July 2024
Millions of British people feel alienated from our politics and no longer trust politicians or political institutions to listen to their concerns and hopes; still less to take action on their behalf. They sense – correctly – that for them, politics simply isn't working.
Published in June 2024, The National Centre for Social Research found that of people surveyed:
- 79% believe the present system of governing Britain could be improved ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal’.
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45% would ‘almost never’ trust British governments of any party to place the needs of the nation above the interests of their own political party, more than ever before.
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58% would ‘almost never’ trust politicians of any party in Britain to tell the truth when they are in a tight corner, similar to the 60% recorded in 2009 in the wake of the MP’s expenses scandal.
The 2024 General Election was arguably the most unfair election in modern times, with the second lowest turnout since 1945; a Labour majority far removed from its vote share; and a huge number of votes that made no difference to the result. See our pictorial summary of the election here.
Millions had to resort to tactical voting (trying to work out how to vote to prevent the party you least like from getting elected; instead of voting freely for who you support). This is complex and negative: in 2019, 32% of voters said they had voted tactically and the number this time was at least as high.
This is not only unjust. It’s dangerous for the health of our democracy and for social cohesion. No wonder so many people today are turned off by politics and don’t see much point in voting. Or turn to populists who exploit their frustrations and stoke up anger.
The UK’s current voting system is at the core of this: it is unequal and disproportionate and so drives the disillusion, distrust and divisiveness that we see just about everywhere. It has become volatile and unpredictable; the very opposite of the stability and continuity we need.
And of course this is not new.
Liberal Democrats have long argued for a proportional voting system where votes are equal – which connects ordinary people to decisions which affect them and starts to rebuild trust.
Read why change is urgently needed here.
Read why it's time to change here.