We need an organic reform based on sound, Conservative principles; that delivers proportional parliaments whilst keeping the all-important constituency link.
There is a myth that Electoral Reform would obliterate the Conservative vote at elections. This could not be further from the truth, the Conservative party is one of the greatest democratic institutions and has been excellent at making the most of electoral reform in the past. The idea that Electoral Reform could shut Conservatives from power is incorrect.
Thanks to FPTP the Conservatives find themselves effectively driven out of large parts of the north, unable to claim any more to be the national party. Tory support in the north is actually reasonably strong. Without PR it just doesn’t look or feel that way. In 2022, Labour took 94 per cent of the seats with 66 per cent of the vote in Manchester.
It is not only an issue in the North. In Oadby and Wigston in Leicestershire in 2019, the LibDems took 92 per cent of the seats with 60 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives came second with half the votes the LibDems polled but won only two seats out of the 28.
In Scotland and Wales, proportional representation has ensured that Conservative voters get Conservative representatives, when First Past the Post alone would have seen them sidelined and nationalists empowered. The Conservatives are the second party of Scotland thanks to the Scottish electoral system. Electoral Reform provides an opportunity for the Conservatives.