Here is a great opportunity for us to raise our concerns through a new petition. The petition was raised a few weeks ago and it needs a great deal of support. There is a very clear need for it in many locations. A classic example is Sussex. There are 16 MPs in Sussex. 13 are outside of the Brighton and Hove area. All of them are Conservatives. There is clearly a wide number of people in the rest of Sussex that have voted for Conservatives, but in each of those 13 constituencies there are people who would either accept anyone other than a Tory and of course there are people who would like a Labour MP and others that would like a Liberal Democrat and others that would like a Green MP. By the same token the three constituencies in the Brighton and Hove area provide two Labour MPs and one Green MP. So the residents in Brighton and Hove that would like a Conservative MP are unable to be represented and indeed there is no one in Sussex that votes for Liberal Democrat MPs that have a representative. This petition is a clear requirement for many people to have a proportional arrangement although currently along with me there is only one other signature in Brighton Pavilion and there is currently 2 signatures in the Chichester constituency and there is one in Bexhill and Battle. There is currently only 126 signatures across the UK so we need to add significant ones to this.

Outside of the voters here are some of the people in Parliament who are calling for proportional voting: The most recent one was Richard Thomson from the SNP who spoke in June. Back in December 2019 Edward Davey called for it here. There was also a call from Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb who spoke about it in February 2018 and also she spoke about it a few weeks earlier in 2017. A year earlier Caroline Lucas spoke about it in July 2016

Richard Thomson: There are many big ticket constitutional items that this place could benefit from, such as seeing us elected here under a proportional voting system.

Edward Davey: I can assure you, Sir, that Liberal Democrat Members want to make their voices heard, not least on behalf of the 3.7 million people who voted for us last Thursday. Under proportional voting, we would now easily be the third largest party in this House with 70 MPs—a fact that I know, Sir, you will take account of.

Jenny Jones: I would also like to see a proportional voting system, as that would mean people being properly represented across the political spectrum. 

Jenny Jones: Green Party policy is that we should have single transferable vote for local elections. It can be done in a way that maintains a constituency or ward link, whichever is more appropriate, while creating a much more proportional voting system.

Caroline Lucas: My Bill would introduce a proportional voting system. There are two main PR systems, but my preference is for the additional member system, because it retains the constituency link, which most MPs value enormously. 

So here is the text for the Petition and it would be great if you would sign it – you can obtain it from here which was launched by William Tavernor.

Hold a referendum on changing the voting system to proportional representation

Hold a referendum on implementing proportional representation for General Elections. The current First Past The Post system is no longer fit for purpose, governments should be more accountable. A more balanced electoral system is needed to restore the integrity and accountability of Parliament.

Governments have run this country on party lines and have failed to uphold standards in public life. Major parties are able to use technology, the media and the current First Past The Post system to retain power and quash alternative opposition. The electorate needs Members in Parliament that represent them and their needs and wishes, to restore integrity and accountability. The only way to achieve this is a proportional representation electoral system.