Back in September I wrote a few blogs about Proportional Representation because of the focus that was emerging within the Labour Party. Indeed this blog was focused on an Early Day Motion that Chuka Umunna had set out in 2016 while he was the Labour MP for Streatham. Sadly when Chuka shifted in February 2019 to Change UK and then to Liberal Democratic in June 2019 he was not able to remain as their local MP in December 2019 at the General Election. When he wrote his EDM there was a total of 69 other MPs who endorsed his call but given that there have been two General Elections since that document there are now only 41 MPs who signed who are still within Parliament. I have listed the active MPs below and also the text from Chuka’s EDM. The reason I have revisited that detail is because yesterday I wrote another blog about Proportional Representation because initially I had seen that Chichester City Council had endorsed Proportional Representation for future General Elections. As I subsequently read other details I then spotted that the Councils for Proportional Representation that had promoted the Chichester City Council had a list of 20 other Councils that are all in favour of Proportional Representation. I added them to yesterdays blog visually and here is that image with Chichester attached that I pasted on today. The Councils that are in favour of Proportional Representation are also listed below:

Herefordshire, North Devon, Bath & NE Somerset, Warrington, Richmondshire, Milton Keynes, Exeter, Worcester, Cheltenham, Woking, Rother (which is a Sussex Council), Lancaster, East Devon, Richmond, North Somerset, Kingston, Hinckley & Bosworth, Barnstaple, Vale of White Horse, Forest of Dean and now also Chichester City Council (which is a Sussex Council).

And here is the list of the 41 existing MPs that endorsed the EDM back in 2016 when Chuka Umunna was the author.

9 Labour MPs: Barry Sheerman, Clive Lewis, David Lammy, Jess Phillips, Jonathan Reynolds, Margaret Hodge, Stephen Kinnock, Stephen Twigg and Wes Streeting

2 Liberal Democrat MPs: Alistair Carmichael and Sarah Olney

Green: Caroline Lucas

27 SNP MPs: Alan Brown, Alison Thewliss, Angela Crawley, Angus Brendan MacNeil, Carol Monaghan, Chris Law, Chris Stephens, Deidre Brock, Douglas Chapman, Drew Hendry, Gavin Newlands, Hannah Bardell, Ian Blackford, Joanna Cherry, Kirsten Oswald, Kirsty Blackman, Marion Fellows, Martyn Day, Mhairi Black, Owen Thompson, Patricia Gibson, Peter Grant, Philippa Whitford, Ronnie Cowan, Stewart Malcolm McDonald, Stuart McDonald and Tommy Sheppard

2 Plaid Cymru MPs: Hywell Williams and Liz Saville Roberts

So along with two Sussex Councils there is also at least one Sussex MP (Caroline Lucas in my constituency) that are approving Proportional Representation.

And here is the text from Chuka Umunna:

That this House welcomes the various collaborative campaigns to make votes matter by introducing a fair voting system; notes that petitions started since the 2015 general election calling for a fair voting system have gained over 500,000 signatures, and that recent polling suggests a significant majority of the public support moving to a more proportional system of electing hon. Members; further notes that the alternative vote system is not proportional and that the 2011 referendum gave no verdict on proportional representation; agrees that the current system of electing hon. Members is no longer fit for purpose; believes that the UK’s voting system should ensure that those who are entitled to vote have a vote that counts, and counts equally, no matter who they vote for or where they live; further believes that the share of seats a party gets should closely reflect the share of votes that people give them; and calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to introduce a system of proportional representation for elections to the House.

It will be interesting to find out how many other MPs would endorse this text and indeed that approve the Proportional Representation theme.