Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform

The Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform (LCER) is an organisation formed of members and supporters of the British Labour Party, seeking to persuade the party to adopt in its manifesto a commitment to proportional representation in all UK elections.

Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform
Chair
Sandy Martin
WebsiteOfficial website
Formerly called
Labour Study Group for Electoral Reform

LCER characterises the first-past-the-post voting system (FPTP) as "unfair and deeply flawed, leading to voter apathy, disaffection with politics, and parliaments which don't represent the people". It campaigns for its replacement with an electoral system which is "broadly proportional, and in which all votes matter".[1]

The group works closely with other organisations promoting electoral reform in the UK, including Make Votes Matter, the Electoral Reform Society and Politics for the Many. LCER is distinct from these other organisations in that it focuses its efforts on promoting proportional representation within the Labour Party. This is driven by the belief that a change to the UK's voting system can only come about via Labour:

"We believe that the impetus for changing the voting system must come from the Labour Party. The Conservatives will never support PR, because First Past the Post gives them such a big electoral advantage. The smaller parties already support PR, but lack the influence to bring about change. Only Labour can drive the change."[1]

History

LCER originated in the 1970s as the Labour Study Group for Electoral Reform. After Labour lost government to the Conservatives in the 1979 general election, the group changed its name to the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform.[2] Early supporters included academic Ron Medlow; Robin Cook,[3] Jeff Rooker, and Martin Linton, who went on to be Labour MPs; and activist Mary Southcott,[4] who would later become LCER's parliamentary and political officer.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, during which Labour spent most of its time in opposition, support for LCER increased steadily among both Labour members and elected representatives, with motions on electoral reform being tabled at the party conference almost every year.[5] In 1990, the party conference voted narrowly to commission an inquiry into electoral systems; LCER is widely credited in bringing this about.[6][7] The inquiry, led by Professor Raymond Plant, recommended the introduction of the supplementary vote.[8] Labour included in its 1997 election manifesto a pledge to hold a referendum on electoral reform;[9] however, this pledge was never honoured, despite the work of the Jenkins Commission, in which Liberal Democrat (and former Labour MP) Lord Jenkins explored possible voting systems on behalf of incumbent Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.

In 2010, incoming Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron announced a referendum on electoral reform in return for the support of the Liberal Democrats in a governing coalition.[10] The referendum, which offered instant-runoff voting (branded as "Alternative Vote", or AV) as an alternative to FPTP, was held in May 2011. AV is not a proportional voting system, and as such many electoral reformers considered it no great improvement on FPTP:[11] Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called it a "miserable little compromise",[12][13] and some leading proponents of electoral reform considered AV to be such a poor system that they voted for the status quo.[14] LCER did support AV in the 2011 referendum, via the Yes2AV umbrella group, but following the heavy and widely predicted defeat of the "Yes" campaign,[15] LCER's activities fell into abeyance for several years, with activists exhausted and the organisation having spent almost all its money.[2]

Activity increased again in 2015 and has been rising steadily ever since; Make Votes Matter notes that one third of Labour MPs, 77 Constituency Labour Parties, and two trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party have expressed support for proportional representation.[16]

In September 2020, Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform joined with other pressure groups and Labour MPs to launch Labour for a New Democracy, a campaign to "build support for UK electoral reform in Labour with the aim of changing party policy by the time its next conference takes place".[17] According to polling three-quarters of Labour members believe the party should commit to supporting proportional representation and adopt it as a policy.[18] The next Labour Party conference is due to be held in 2021.[19][20]

Supporters

Many Labour MPs past and present have supported LCER and its activities. In the past, this included such high-profile figures as Mo Mowlam, Robin Cook, Paul Flynn, Clare Short, Tessa Jowell, Rhodri Morgan and Janet Anderson.[21][22][23]

LCER currently has prominent supporters from both the left and the right wings of the Labour party.[24] It is currently chaired by Paul Blomfield, with Ruth Cadbury, Susan Elan Jones, Sandy Martin and Daniel Zeichner serving as vice chairs. In 2017, Cat Smith co-wrote the foreword to a report jointly written by LCER with Make Votes Matter.[25]

Other current supporters include MPs David Lammy, Jonathan Reynolds, Tulip Siddiq, Stephen Kinnock, Alan Whitehead, John McDonnell, and, from the House of Lords, Baroness Lister.[23]

Position

LCER does not advocate the introduction of a specific system of proportional representation, believing that the selection of a new voting system should be the work of a Royal Commission. Rather, it campaigns for the Labour Party:

  • To reject first-past-the-post voting for elections at all levels of government
  • To ensure that the Constitutional Convention already promised in Labour's manifesto, includes in its remit a consideration of voting systems
  • To include in its election manifesto a commitment to establishing a broadly proportional voting system at all levels of government[1]

LCER bases its support for proportional representation on the belief that PR systems are more democratic than FPTP, but also on evidence that PR voting systems are associated with societies with higher levels of social and economic equality; with higher levels of public spending and redistribution; and with a lower propensity to engage in violent conflict.[26][27][28][29]

References
  1. "About LCER". LCER official website. 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  2. "LCER - LCER's History". www.labourcampaignforelectoralreform.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  3. Cook, R. (2003). Where Do We Go from Here? Chapter 9 in Point of Departure: Diaries from the Front Bench. Simon & Schuster. (ISBN 0-7432-5255-1)
  4. Linton, M and Southcott, M (1998). Making Votes Count: The Case for Electoral Reform. Profile Books. ISBN 9781861970879.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Miles, Jasper Charles (2017). The Labour Party and the Westminster electoral system (PDF). PhD thesis, University of Liverpool. p. 151.
  6. Norris, Pippa (1995). "The politics of electoral reform in Britain" (PDF). International Political Science Review. 16 (1): 65–78. doi:10.1177/019251219501600105.
  7. Cole, Matt (1999). "Party policy and electoral reform: A survey of developments, motives and prospects". British Elections & Parties Review. 9 (1): 72–86. doi:10.1080/13689889908413021.
  8. Davies, Patricia Wynn (1 April 1993). "Plant commission moves towards PR: Labour working party wants 'first past post' system for electing MPs scrapped". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  9. "1997 Labour Party Manifesto -". www.labour-party.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  10. Curtice, John (2013). "Politicians, voters and democracy: The 2011 UK referendum on the Alternative Vote". Electoral Studies. 32 (2): 215–223. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2012.10.010.
  11. Clark, Tom (6 May 2011). "10 reasons the AV referendum was lost". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  12. Curtice, John (2011). "The Death of a Miserable Little Compromise: The Alternative Vote Referendum". Political Insight. 2 (2): 14–17. doi:10.1111/j.2041-9066.2011.00066.x.
  13. Dommett, K (2013). "A miserable little compromise? Exploring Liberal Democrat fortunes in the UK coalition". The Political Quarterly. 84 (2): 218–227. doi:10.1111/j.1467-923X.2013.12013.x.
  14. Rooker, Jeff (2011-01-07). "Letters: AV facts and fallacies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  15. Robinson, Duncan (28 April 2011). "Why Yes2AV lags so far behind". New Statesman. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  16. "Make Votes Matter - Labour4PR". 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  17. Kersley, Andrew (19 September 2020). "'Labour for a New Democracy' launches to push leadership on electoral reform". LabourList. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  18. Stone, Jon (17 December 2019). "Three-quarters of Labour members want party to back proportional representation". The Independent. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  19. Perry, Alice (10 November 2020). "2021 elections, conferences and party complaints – Alice Perry's NEC report". LabourList. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  20. "Fair Votes. Equal society". Labour for a New Democracy. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  21. Political Report 1996-7 (Report). Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform.
  22. Women's movements facing the reconfigured state. Banaszak, Lee Ann, 1960-, Beckwith, Karen, 1950-, Rucht, Dieter. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-521-81278-X. OCLC 49727819.CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. "LCER - Labour MPs and candidates". www.labourcampaignforelectoralreform.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  24. "LCER supporters - MPs". LCER Official Website. 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  25. Stone, Jon (4 May 2017). "Labour eyes proportional representation as party's elections minister backs voting shake-up". The Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  26. The Many, Not the Few: Proportional Representation and Labour in the 21st Century. LCER and Make Votes Matter. 2017.
  27. Döring, Holger; Manow, Philip (2017). "Is Proportional Representation More Favourable to the Left? Electoral Rules and Their Impact on Elections, Parliaments and the Formation of Cabinets". British Journal of Political Science. 47 (1): 149–164. doi:10.1017/S0007123415000290. ISSN 0007-1234.
  28. IVERSEN, TORBEN; SOSKICE, DAVID (May 2006). "Electoral Institutions and the Politics of Coalitions: Why Some Democracies Redistribute More Than Others". American Political Science Review. 100 (2): 165–181. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.828.6087. doi:10.1017/s0003055406062083. ISSN 0003-0554.
  29. Lijphart, Arend, 1936- (2012-09-11). Patterns of democracy: government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. ISBN 9780300172027. OCLC 870703414.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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