Labour conference to hold landmark proportional representation debate

A debate this afternoon could see the Labour party back landmark reforms to the UK’s voting system.

Conference delegates are set to debate the policy shift at their Brighton conference this afternoon, which would commit the party to reform Westminster’s ‘First Past the Post’ system in their next manifesto.

The motion came second amongst the CLP section in the conference priority ballot ensuring that Labour support for proportional representation will be debated on the conference floor.

The motion was submitted by 153 constituency Labour Parties, two more than the 151 submitted motions on Brexit at the last in-person conference in 2018.

Recent polling found that 83% of Labour members support a move to a more proportional voting system.

Commenting on the campaign Willie Sullivan, senior director of campaigns at the Electoral Reform Society said that it was “clear that… support for PR is growing.

“With over 150 constituency parties submitting their priority motion on PR and conference delegates voting overwhelmingly to take the debate to [the] conference floor it’s clear there’s support across the Labour movement for change.”

Caroline Osborne, delegate for Gosport CLP and Labour for a New Democracy activist said: “We are delighted at Saturday’s overwhelming vote for the motion – which most CLPs support and thousands upon thousands of members back. We hope the leadership will support this clear priority of the membership – if it does, we can together bring the whole of the party behind PR on Monday.”

This debate comes just days after Labour leader Keir Starmer proposed plans to scrap the ‘one person one vote’ system for Labour leadership elections.