In response to a letter from Gian Lorenzo Spisso arguing that first past the post (FPTP) is the lesser of two evils, readers have written to the Guardian to advocate for proportional representation (PR), citing fairness and the need for parliament to reflect voters' choices.
Italy is not a PR system
Tom Walker from London notes that Italy, often cited as a cautionary tale against PR, actually uses a mixed system, not a purely proportional one. He points to Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark as countries that use PR and are not synonymous with political instability. He also argues that small parties or weak local representation are not unique to PR, noting that the Democratic Unionist party held the balance of power at Westminster under FPTP less than a decade ago, and that the Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru wield influence disproportionate to their UK-wide vote due to geographically concentrated support.
Walker acknowledges that FPTP encourages major parties to contain competing tendencies within broad internal coalitions, but questions whether such internal and opaque coalitions are preferable to external and explicit ones that require negotiation and common ground. He highlights that in 2024, Labour won 33.7% of votes cast but 63.2% of seats, saying that distortion is not a minor technical flaw. He concludes that the question is not whether PR is perfect, but whether a system can be designed in which parliament reflects the votes people actually cast, noting that other stable democracies do so.
Fairness and the moral argument
Susanna Dammann from London argues that the most important reason for the UK to adopt a more proportional voting system is the moral one: it is fairer. She notes that in the last general election, the current system gave the UK a government that only about 20% of the electorate had voted for, and that almost 80% of the public did not vote for it. She also raises a pragmatic concern: to avoid having an extreme party in power, the UK needs to ditch FPTP quickly. She points to Reform UK, which may be lagging in the polls but has £76m behind it and could mount a campaign of mis- and disinformation that could persuade 30% of the electorate to vote for it.
Dammann acknowledges that not all PR systems are the same, noting that Italy uses a mixed system similar to Scotland's for Holyrood elections. However, she cites a report by Make Votes Matter that says the Italian system "tilts the playing field rather than levelling it." She argues that a proportional system meeting the criteria of the "good systems agreement" would encourage cross-party collaboration and cooperation, undermining tit-for-tat squabbling and reducing policy flip-flop, which would encourage stability and prosperity.
Personal experience of wasted votes
Steve Smart from Malvern, Worcestershire, writes that he is 79 years old and his vote has never elected an MP since he lived in an urban private rental in his early 20s. As a middle-class, left-leaning voter in mainly middle-class towns and suburbs, he says his vote has been wasted in a succession of places. He argues that PR could elect a rightwing government, but it could also lock the right wing out of power for a long time, and as a democratic socialist he would be happy with a long-term progressive coalition. He also says PR would give the Greens the scale of representation in parliament that their increasing national support deserves.
