On Saturday 5 September, supporters of the cross-party Proportional Representation (PR) advocacy group, Make Votes Matter (MVM) campaigned outside BBC and ITV facilities in Salford Quay’s MediaCityUK as part of their nationwide Wake Up Westminster campaign. Coming after the third Commons reading of the Representation of the People Bill on Wednesday 2 September, the event sought to bring greater media attention to the issue of electoral reform.
The campaign group argues that the First Past the Post (FPTP) system used for UK parliamentary and English council elections no longer reflects the way people vote. The group says it distorts public opinion, leaves millions of voters without effective representation, and increases the risk of political instability as support moves beyond the traditional two-party system. It points to the 2024 general election, when Labour won 63% of seats on 34% of the vote, and contrasts the 2026 English local elections with the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament elections held under proportional systems.
Voting reform blocked in the Commons
During the third reading, the House of Commons considered the Representation of the People Bill, which proposed multiple reforms including votes at 16, tighter rules on political donations, automatic voter registration and updated regulation of electronic campaigning.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Elections had proposed an amendment, NC31, calling for the Housing Secretary to conduct a feasibility study into a National Commission on Electoral Reform to determine the best national voting system. It garnered the support of 176 MPs including the following Welsh MPs:
- Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn, Labour)
- Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, Labour)
- Andrew Ranger (Wrexham, Labour)
- Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Plaid Cyrmu)
- Ben Lake (Ceredigion Preseli, Plaid Cyrmu)
- Llinos Medi (Ynys Môn, Plaid Cyrmu)
- Ann Davis (Caerfyrddin, Plaid Cyrmu)
- David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, Lib Dem)
However, it was not selected for debate for being outside the scope of the bill. Amendments calling for the adoption of PR outright, such as NC8 by Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove, Lib Dem), were also deemed outside the scope of this bill during the prior two readings.
Various pro-PR groups, including MVM, Compass, Unlock Democracy and the Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform (LDER) had gathered in Westminster to lobby for NC31. Supporters engaged in alarm-clock-themed protesting and delivered a letter for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to 10 Downing Street bearing around 23,000 signatures calling for a National Commission. The groups also funded local variable message board adverts aimed at MPs, urging them to back the amendment.
Taking the campaign to the broadcasters
Supporters travelled from Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Birmingham to gather outside BBC North’s Dock House and Orange Tower, which houses the offices of ITV Granada. They discussed PR and what its adoption would mean with visitors to MediaCityUK and handed out leaflets.
MVM Manchester activist and event organiser Abbie Jones commented that “We’re gathering near broadcasting because we think our broken voting system should be national news”. She went on to say:
“Our current voting system only worked when there were two parties. Now there are five or more notable parties, it’s possible that one could have a ‘landslide’ win in the next election with barely a quarter of votes, which doesn’t at all reflect what we voters want.”
As a parliamentary candidate in last June’s Makerfield by-election, Burnham had vocally endorsed electoral reform, commenting in a radio interview: “I do think there needs to be reform to the electoral system to enable less point-scoring, more problem-solving – that’s what I think we need.” For several participating members, the MediaCityUK protest was a chance to remind the Prime Minister of his earlier support for reform close to his political home ground, especially as campaigners regard waiting until after the next general election as an unnecessary risk.
With conference season due to begin on 16 September, the demonstration was also intended to keep electoral reform in the spotlight ahead of most of the major parties’ conferences in late September and October. It coincided with the last day of Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham.
BBC Manchester were unable to comment about the demonstration or their coverage of the movement for electoral reform or the state of British democracy, when asked.
Democracy campaigners consider Manchester an epicentre for major political change in Britain. The city was the site of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, sparked by a Yeomanry charge against a demonstration against ‘rotten boroughs’, and the birthplace of the Women’s Social and Political Union (the ‘Suffragettes’) in 1903.
Why campaigners still have hope
Despite NC31’s rejection at third reading, MVM says there are grounds for optimism, pointing to the appointment of 20 Labour members of the Fair Elections APPG to roles in Burnham’s government.
These include:
- Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) as Minister of State for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith
- Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) as Solicitor General
- Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Prime Minister
- Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) as Assistant Whip
- Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) as PPS for Local Government
- Beccy Cooper (Worthing West) as PPS to the Cabinet Office
They also note that democracy policy has moved from the remit of a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, formerly Samantha Dixon (Chester North and Neston, Labour), to a Minister of State; giving the brief greater ministerial seniority.
MVM says the third reading showed that PR remains a live parliamentary issue. Lisa Smart and Mike Reader both called for a National Commission, while Joe Morris argued that people who are “losing faith with politics” and feel “the most disenfranchised” are owed “a national conversation about how we can reform our voting”. Stella Creasy also challenged Shadow Housing Secretary Katie Lam’s defence of FPTP for its MP- constituency link, noting that “there are many versions of proportional representation and electoral reform” and saying she “would welcome her having that conversation”.
The most reassuring comment, in the campaigners’ view, came from Florence Eshalomi MP, who said:
“The government’s priority is a politics that works for all people in all places – not some people in some places. The Prime Minister remains committed to electoral reform as a way of supporting that objective.”
More from Samuel James Jackson
Bylines Network Gazette is out!
The latest Bylines Network Gazette is out now. Become a Friend of Bylines Network or upgrade to a paid Substack subscription, and you will get access to a vital collection of citizen articles and stories.
Journalism by the people, for the people.
