Andy Burnham has said that Labour will seek to change Britain’s voting system if it wins the next general election, in a move that could prove seismic for the future of British politics, reports BritPanorama.
Speaking at Labour’s conference for the first time as prime minister, he announced that the government will launch a new commission on electoral reform.
This opens the door to an historic change in the British voting system, a topic political leaders have long claimed is a priority – even though little has been done to advance it.
Mr. Burnham mentioned that it is “always in his mind” that he is Britain’s seventh prime minister in ten years, asserting, “We can’t succeed in the eyes of the world if we continue with the levels of political turbulence we have seen in recent times.”
He added, “We will all have failed in our public duties if we carry on as we are and open the door of Number 10 to a divisive government on less than 30 per cent of the vote.”
Westminster elections operate under a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, where the candidates with the most votes in each constituency are elected. This method has been heavily criticized for failing to reflect the spectrum of political opinion in the UK. The debate around electoral systems has intensified since the 2024 election, where Labour secured a landslide victory with just 34 per cent of the vote, marking the least representative outcome in British electoral history.
Mr. Burnham has previously endorsed a shift towards a proportional representation (PR) model, stating at last year’s Labour conference that its time “has come.”
Winners and losers
Shifting away from FPTP is a radical proposal from a serving prime minister, particularly since the system benefited Labour significantly in the last general election.
Under a proportional representation voting method, the results of the 2024 general election would have looked markedly different. Projections indicate that Labour’s seat count of 411 would have nearly halved to around 220, drastically reducing their 172-seat majority and resulting in a hung parliament. The Conservative party would have gained approximately 30 more seats.
However, the most substantial gains would have been for Reform UK, which would have seen its seats soar from five to 93, while the Green Party’s representation would have increased from 4 to 44.
The rationale behind Mr. Burnham’s proposal for electoral reform likely stems from recent polling which suggests that Reform could secure a parliamentary majority with less than a third of the overall vote share.
While Labour appears to be gaining strength in popularity since Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure and currently leads Reform in voting intentions for the first time since March 2025, these numbers can shift rapidly.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice remarked that switching electoral systems “would come at a price,” suggesting that nearly any alternative to FPTP would favour Reform more heavily than the current setup.
“Electoral systems vary in their degree of proportionality, but virtually any conceivable alternative would have treated Reform much more favourably,” he wrote in The Times.
“While electoral reform might make it much difficult for a future Reform leader to become prime minister, it would make it easier for the party to establish the significant parliamentary presence it currently lacks.”
Charlie Buckley, a senior research associate at More in Common, added, “Under a first-past-the-post system, you can have a good chunk of the vote but absolutely collapse in seats, and maybe that’s something that Labour wants to avoid happening.”
He further stated, “If the next year of Burnham’s time as PM goes really well, and Labour’s lead gets more comfortable, then they might come to regret this announcement.”
Which voting model to choose?
Various PR models are implemented across the globe, each differing slightly while aiming to correlate election results more closely to overall electoral vote shares, unlike FPTP.
The Liberal Democrats, who have consistently supported electoral reform, called for the introduction of a single transferable vote (STV) system during the last election. This model, used in Scottish council elections, enables voters to rank candidates by preference with votes redistributed as seats become filled.
An additional option frequently discussed is the additional member system, currently utilized to elect members of the Scottish Parliament. Voters cast two votes in this system: one for a local representative and another for a party. This results in the election of a directly accountable local MP while additional seats are allocated regionally or nationally to enhance proportionality.
The system employed in Germany often leads to coalitions between parties, exemplified by the current ‘Grand Coalition’ between the CDU and the Social Democratic Party.
Mr. Buckley noted, “There are lots of proportional systems in Europe, and they tend to contribute to a more stable number of seats for each party, as vote shares don’t fluctuate dramatically. A proportional system would mitigate massive majority wins or total collapses that can occur under first-past-the-post.”
However, he cautioned that forming a government under a proportional framework could be more complex, involving coalitions between three or more parties.
