A few days ago there was a piece in one of the Labour internal news pieces that presented the fact that 83% of the members of the Labour Party are now convinced that Proportional Representation is what our nation needs for a meaningful political process. It is very encouraging that only 10% of them are opposed to PR and so the question has to be what will it take for the Party to link up with the Liberal Democratic Party and the Green Party so that all three of them are willing to put it into their manifestos for the next General Election. That would mean that if sufficient numbers of us were willing to vote for one of the three parties (and indeed any other candidates who were in favour of PR and willing to put it onto their manifesto) that we stand a chance of a non Conservative Government in 2024 or sooner and that the coalition would then be commited to introduce a Proportional Representation system for the future in our nation. The piece in this Labour List begins with the first few sentences

New polling shows 83% of Labour members believe the party should support changing the UK’s electoral system to proportional representation, up from 76% less than two years ago, LabourList can exclusively reveal. According to a poll of nearly 1,000 Labour members, conducted by YouGov for Labour for a New Democracy, only 10% say their party should not support the switch from first-past-the-post to a form of proportional representation (PR). The latest findings show record levels of support within Labour for the policy of electoral reform, which would change how general elections are run in the UK, with backing for PR being strong across all ages, genders and regions.

As a resident of Sussex I know that Caroline Lucas is already committed to Proportional Representation and if in the next election we can see the Liberal Democrats winning Eastbourne and Lewes and Labour winning Hastings, Crawley and East Worthing and Shoreham and retaining Hove and Brighton Kemptown, we could then end up with 8 Conservative MPs in Sussex and 8 non Conservatives which would be very significant and give all of us a better balance in our region. This is what is possible with working together. However PR would achieve something more significant and give everyone a way to connect to an MP that represents their votes rather than them feeling frustrated that their votes do not achieve a great deal.