Greens applaud Labour steps towards a more collaborative politics
24 September 2021
Greens have welcomed the opportunity the Labour party has to pass a motion for electoral reform at their autumn conference. At least 144 Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) have submitted the Labour for a New Democracy motion [1] – the greatest number on a single issue in Labour conference history.
Labour members overwhelmingly back reform, with 83% supporting a system of proportional representation [2], while 48% of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) have passed pro-PR policy and 144 have sent motions asking Labour to back PR to this year’s party conference.
Zack Polanski, Green party spokesperson on Democracy and Citizen Engagement, said:
“There’s unprecedented demand for Proportional Representation among the Labour membership and CLPs. They deserve praise for their commitment to a fairer system that promotes democracy and equality. Like British voters, they are ready to move beyond the failure, division and sterility of two-party politics.
“Membership support for electoral reform is almost as strong as it is among Green members, and the Green Party has always supported proportional representation.
“There are fears that the Labour leadership will try again to kick the debate on electoral reform into the long grass or that a few will lobby hard for a no vote. This would be a serious blow to democracy which is already at risk from Tory attempts to gerrymander and suppress voting.
“We urge Labour to listen to its members. If it does, proportional representation will become a cornerstone of the next Labour manifesto. If this happens, Labour will deserve huge credit for enriching our democracy.
“Labour has the opportunity to embrace its future as the largest party in a coalition government rather than condemning the country to another five years of disastrous Tory rule.”
ENDS
Notes
[1] https://labourforelectoralreform.org.uk/will-this-finally-be-prs-conference/