Andy Burnham faces a crucial vote in the House of Commons next week on scrapping Britain’s first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections.
Almost 100 Work MPs support demands for the establishment of a ‘national commission’ for electoral reforms.
They support an amendment tabled to the government’s Representation of the People Bill, which will complete its Commons stage next Wednesday.
The national commission is said to consider abolishing the current first-past-the-post voting system for the election of parliamentarians and make proposals for an alternative.
Labor MPs want the commission to publish its final recommendations within 12 months of its formation.
If the amendment is approved in the House of Commons, it will be an early test of the Prime Minister’s longstanding support for electoral reform.
Mr Burnham said this last month he wanted Labor to make a commitment to electoral reform in the party manifesto for the next general election.
Changing the current first-past-the-post general election system to proportional representation could allow smaller parties such as the Greens to form part of a government at Westminster.
Andy Burnham faces a crucial vote in the House of Commons next week on scrapping Britain’s first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections
The Prime Minister is being urged to support the creation of a new National Commission for Electoral Reforms within his first 100 days in power.
Rachel Blake, Labor MP for the cities of London and Westminster and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, said The Guardian: ‘The PLP (Parliamentary Labor Party) agrees with Andy Burnham that first-past-the-post is being broken, and that a national committee is the way to get a grip on this.
“The government must go ahead and get this process underway within the prime minister’s first 100 days.”
Luke Akehurst, MP for North Durham and member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, said: ‘Parliament is playing catch-up with the public, most of whom already support electoral reform.
“Andy Burnham has a good track record on proportional representation, and it is now hugely popular within the Labor Party. He must seize this opportunity.’
The Labor Party Conference voted to support the transition to a proportional representation voting system in 2022.
But the party’s 2024 manifesto instead focused its electoral reforms on expanding voting to 16- and 17-year-olds, the premise of the bill to be voted on by the House of Commons next week.
A Labor source said: ‘The Representation of the People Bill is designed to deliver on our manifesto commitments on Vote 16 and strengthen political donation rules to guard against foreign interference, which is what the Government is prioritising.
“Andy remains strongly committed to electoral reform and has indicated that this is an issue for a future party manifesto as it requires securing a mandate.”
In response to a question on Reddit about whether he supported the introduction of proportional representation, Mr Burnham said in July: ‘I am a strong supporter of electoral reform, partly because I believe it will enable the change towards a more collaborative politics, and one that is less about scoring points and more about solving problems.
“I will try to convince my own party of the need for a manifesto that commits to this in the next manifesto.”
