Fair Votes Now

Motion as passed by conference

Conference notes:

1. That public trust in British government and politics has sunk to its lowest-ever recorded level.
2. That the 2024 UK General Election was the most disproportionate ever, with the new Government winning two-thirds of the seats in Parliament while receiving one-third of the vote.
3. That more than a majority of votes cast in the General Election were for a losing candidate - at 58%, the highest in seventy years.
4. That turnout at the 2024 General Election was 59.9%, the lowest since 2001.
5. That several million UK citizens are missing from the Electoral Register.
6. That despite around 3.5 million Britons resident overseas being entitled to register to vote, only around 200,000 are estimated to have done so, roughly the same as in 2019, despite a huge increase in the numbers eligible following the abolition of the 15-year rule.
7. That recent years have seen repeated ethics scandals and a failure to uphold the Nolan principles of public life, not just by the UK Government, but by the Scottish and Welsh Governments too.
8. That, in the previous Parliament, the former Conservative Government weakened the independence of the Electoral Commission, introduced disproportionate voting systems for mayoral elections in England, and introduced the Voter ID scheme.
9. The work of organisations like Make Votes Matter, Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society, amongst others, in building the case for electoral reform.
10. That the new Government has not committed to reform of the voting system.

Conference believes that:

1. First Past the Post underpins the adversarial and divisive nature of Westminster politics, and feeds public disillusion.
2. The UK's electoral system leaves millions of people feeling that their votes are irrelevant and their views unrepresented.
3. It is undemocratic that, under the UK's electoral system, not all votes count the same, which leaves millions of people feeling powerless and without a say in how the country is run.
4. Improving our democracy is an important end in itself, but also a necessary step to building a better country with good schools and hospitals, affordable housing and safe communities.
5. British citizens overseas maintain an active and committed interest in UK events, and that fostering a higher involvement of those citizens in elections would play an important role in maintaining links with the ever-growing British diaspora.
6. The Liberal Democrats and Liberal Party have called for fair votes for a century, and should continue to lead the campaign for fundamental reform of the electoral system.

Conference calls on the Government to:

1. Replace the first past the post system for UK General Elections, with proportional representation by the Single Transferable Vote system.
2. Introduce the Single Transferable Vote system for the election of local councillors in England.
3. Implement the Alternative Vote system for elections for single positions such as directly-elected Mayors.
4. Ensure that the UK has an automatic system of inclusion on the electoral register.
5. Protect and strengthen the Electoral Commission, including by repealing the Government's power to designate a strategy and policy statement for the Commission and by providing adequate budget for effective communications to electors, both within the UK and overseas.
6. Scrap the Conservatives' Voter ID scheme.
7. To avoid delay in international delivery of postal ballots, to enable electronic delivery of ballot papers to those who request them, to allow voting in person at all British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates as well as to publicise proxy voting as an alternative to postal voting.
8. Enable all UK citizens living abroad to vote for MPs in separate overseas constituencies, and to participate in UK referendums.
9. Give young people the right to vote in the first election after their 16th birthday, for UK general elections and referendums, and local elections in England.
10. Extend the right to full participation in civic life, including the ability to stand for office or vote in UK referendums, local elections and general elections, to all EU citizens with settled status, and to anyone else who has lived in the UK for at least five years and has the right to stay permanently.
11. Extend political education in secondary schools, to prepare future citizens to participate in public life.
12. Use citizens' assemblies to engage the electorate, particularly on long-standing topics such as climate change or social care.

Applicability: Federal; except 2. and 3. (lines 47-50), and part of 8. (line 61), which are England only.

Motion prior to amendment

#Submitted by: 11 party members
Mover: Christine Jardine MP (Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office)
Summation: Al Pinkerton MP

Conference notes:

1. That public trust in British government and politics has sunk to its lowest-ever recorded level.
2. That the 2024 UK General Election was the most disproportionate ever, with the new Government winning two-thirds of the seats in Parliament while receiving one-third of the vote.
3. That more than a majority of votes cast in the General Election were for a losing candidate - at 58%, the highest in seventy years.
4. That turnout at the 2024 General Election was 59.9%, the lowest since 2001.
5. That several million UK citizens are missing from the Electoral Register.
6. That recent years have seen repeated ethics scandals and a failure to uphold the Nolan principles of public life, not just by the UK Government, but by the Scottish and Welsh Governments too.
7. That, in the previous Parliament, the former Conservative Government weakened the independence of the Electoral Commission, introduced disproportionate voting systems for mayoral elections in England, and introduced the Voter ID scheme.
8. The work of organisations like Make Votes Matter, Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society, amongst others, in building the case for electoral reform.
9. That the new Government has not committed to reform of the voting system.

Conference believes that:

1. First Past the Post underpins the adversarial and divisive nature of Westminster politics, and feeds public disillusion.
2. The UK's electoral system leaves millions of people feeling that their votes are irrelevant and their views unrepresented.
3. It is undemocratic that, under the UK's electoral system, not all votes count the same, which leaves millions of people feeling powerless and without a say in how the country is run.
4. Improving our democracy is an important end in itself, but also a necessary step to building a better country with good schools and hospitals, affordable housing and safe communities.
5. The Liberal Democrats and Liberal Party have called for fair votes for a century, and should continue to lead the campaign for fundamental reform of the electoral system.

Conference calls on the Government to:

1. Replace the first past the post system for UK General Elections, with proportional representation by the Single Transferable Vote system.
2. Introduce the Single Transferable Vote system for the election of local councillors in England.
3. Implement the Alternative Vote system for elections for single positions such as directly-elected Mayors.
4. Ensure that the UK has an automatic system of inclusion on the electoral register.
5. Protect and strengthen the Electoral Commission, including by repealing the Government's power to designate a strategy and policy statement for the Commission.
6. Scrap the Conservatives' Voter ID scheme.
7. Enable all UK citizens living abroad to vote for MPs in separate overseas constituencies, and to participate in UK referendums.
8. Give young people the right to vote in the first election after their 16th birthday, for UK general elections and referendums, and local elections in England.
9. Extend the right to full participation in civic life, including the ability to stand for office or vote in UK referendums, local elections and general elections, to all EU citizens with settled status, and to anyone else who has lived in the UK for at least five years and has the right to stay permanently.
10. Extend political education in secondary schools, to prepare future citizens to participate in public life.
11. Use citizens' assemblies to engage the electorate, particularly on long-standing topics such as climate change or social care.

Applicability: Federal; except 2. and 3. (lines 47-50), and part of 8. (line 61), which are England only.

Amendments

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: 19 members
Mover:George Cunningham
Summation: Caroline Voaden MP.

After v) (line 14), insert:

vi) That despite around 3.5 million Britons resident overseas being entitled to register to vote, only around 200,000 are estimated to have done so, roughly the same as in 2019, despite a huge increase in the numbers eligible following the abolition of the 15-year rule.

After d) (line 39), insert:

e) British citizens overseas maintain an active and committed interest in UK events, and that fostering a higher involvement of those citizens in elections would play an important role in maintaining links with the ever-growing British diaspora.

In 5. (line 55), after ‘Commission’ insert ‘and by providing adequate budget for effective communications to electors, both within the UK and overseas’.

After 6. (line 56), insert:

7. To avoid delay in international delivery of postal ballots, to enable electronic delivery of ballot papers to those who request them, to allow voting in person at all British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates as well as to publicise proxy voting as an alternative to postal voting.

Amendment Two

NOT PASSED

Submitted by: Enfield
Mover: Matt McLaren.
Summation:: Rob Wilson.

After e) (line 42), insert:

f) The Liberal Democrats have always produced strong local champions who prove by their example the value of a strong, hardworking local MP to constituents.

g) The existence of local constituencies has been a popular and integral feature of British democracy since the 19th century, and our mission to reform the electoral system must take account of this.

h) The use of different forms of the Additional Member System (AMS) in Scotland, Wales and Greater London has proved successful for more than two decades now, and similar systems across Europe have ensured proportionality whilst maintaining a vital local constituency link for voters.

i) The Jenkins Commission in 1998 proposed a form of the Additional Member System, known as the Alternative Vote Plus (AV+) for elections to the House of Commons, but the then Labour government failed to implement this recommendation.

j) The Single Transferable Vote system, whilst useful in other contexts, requires the creation of constituencies which are far too large to maintain a “constituency link” for voters, creates undesirably lengthy delays in ascertaining election results which may damage post-election market confidence, and is only used by two countries for their primary legislative chamber of parliament (the Republic of Ireland and Malta).

Delete 1. (lines 44–46) and insert:

1. Replace the first past the past system for UK General Elections, with a form of mixed-member proportional representation by the Alternative Vote Plus system (AV+), that will: 

a) Ensure that a fixed number not exceeding two-thirds of Members of the House of Commons are elected to represent geographical constituencies via the Alternative Vote (AV) system, maintaining a constituency link for all voters and ensuring all local MPs have received the support of at least half of their constituents.

b) Provide stronger proportionality in the chamber by giving all voters the chance to vote on a separate regional list ballot, with a fixed number not exceeding one-third of Members of the House of Commons being elected in these regions on party lists via the D’Hont system.

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Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see page 8 of the agenda. 

The deadline for amendments to this motion, see pages 10–11, and for requests for separate votes, see pages 7–8 of the agenda, is 09.00 Thursday 12 September. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily.