Keir Starmer has ruled out including any support for a change in the voting system in Labour’s election manifesto, as senior figures from across the party joined calls to back proportional representation (PR).
Speaking in an interview with the Observer, the Labour leader said: “No, it’s not a priority for me.” He added that he would not do any deals before or after the election to alter the first-past-the-post system.
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, and John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, are among those urging a rethink. Burnham said the current system had allowed the Conservatives to hold power for over two-thirds of the last century without winning a majority share of the popular vote. McDonnell argued that it had consolidated power in the hands of politicians who protected corporate profiteering while undermining workers’ rights.
A motion on changing the voting system is expected to be debated at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, with the biggest union, Unison, among those shifting their stance to support proportional representation.
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to put 13,000 more neighbourhood police on the streets, and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting promised to tackle private equity firms profiting from poor care homes.
