In the midst of campaigning to win an MP seat in Makerfield, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, has put the question of electoral reform at the center of the political debate. On several occasions, the Labor candidate, who also covets Keir Starmer’s position, has spoken out in favor of the creation of a multi-party national commission on the subject but also for the introduction of a reform as one of Labour’s campaign elements, with a view to the legislative elections planned for 2029. He has long rejected the first past the post system, which has favored the de facto two-party system of British politics, and is in favor of a form of representation more reflective of the preferences of the British.
Burnham, la rupture
Faced with the fragmentation of political life across the Channel, he is not the only one to carry this agenda. As part of a bill to modernize the electoral system, around a hundred deputies have also just signed an amendment to create a national commission with this objective. According to Alex Sobel, the Labor MP at the origin of the text, the system inherited from the 19th century no longer works while elections are now played between five, even six parties, taking into account the Scottish and Welsh nationalist movements. In the political podcast “Bylines Times”, he judged “unacceptable” the fact that certain local elected officials won their seats with only 20.5% of the vote during the May elections.
