Andy Burnham pledges to campaign for UK voting-system change at next election

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at Labour’s conference in Liverpool on 29 September that his party would fight the next general election on a pledge to change the UK voting system. He proposed a national commission to examine electoral reform and invited other parties to take part. The announcement puts the method used to elect MPs on Labour’s election agenda, but leaves the proposed replacement undecided.

Burnham said the commission should help ensure that ‘everyone’s vote counts, and everyone’s voice is heard’. He did not say who would lead it or when it would begin work. Nor did he name a voting model that Labour would put to the electorate. The pledge is therefore a commitment to campaign for change and examine options, rather than an announced change to election law.

Why the voting system is under scrutiny

At UK general elections, first-past-the-post awards each constituency seat to the candidate who receives the most votes there. The result in Parliament can differ sharply from parties’ shares of the vote nationwide. That gap has become a focus of debate as support has spread among more parties, making the choice of electoral system consequential for how votes translate into seats.

The 2024 result provides a stark example. According to the Electoral Reform Society’s analysis, Labour won 411 seats, or 63.2% of the House of Commons, with 33.7% of votes. Reform UK took 14.3% of votes and won five seats; the Greens took 6.7% and won four. Those figures describe the result under the existing system, not what any alternative would have produced.

Burnham framed the issue as a risk to public confidence. He told delegates that politicians would have failed in their duties if they kept the system and opened the door to a divisive government with less than 30% of the vote. That is his argument for reform, rather than a forecast that such a government will win an election.

What Labour and other parties have said

Burnham has signalled support for proportional representation before. The BBC reported that he told the previous Labour conference ‘PR’s time has come’ and, while mayor of Greater Manchester, supported a parliamentary amendment proposing a commission. His speech as prime minister went further by making voting-system change an election pledge, while stopping short of committing Labour to proportional representation or another specific model.

Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell said after the speech that she personally backed electoral reform, while acknowledging that parts of Labour opposed it. She declined to specify a preferred system and said there were ‘lots of models’ available. Her comments underline a question the proposed commission would have to address: agreement on reviewing the system does not amount to agreement on what should replace it.

The BBC reported that the Liberal Democrats support a move away from first-past-the-post and had urged Burnham to introduce proportional representation before the next election. It said the Conservatives were likely to resist such a move. Reform UK backed proportional representation at the 2024 election, according to the BBC, but its current enthusiasm for the change is uncertain. Burnham’s invitation to other parties does not establish that they will join the commission.

The choices still to be made

Several electoral models already operate in parts of the UK. At the last general election, the Liberal Democrats backed the single transferable vote system used for Scottish council elections. Members of the Scottish Parliament are elected through an additional member system, which combines constituency seats with regional party lists. These examples show the range of possible approaches; Burnham has not selected either one for Westminster.

The commission’s leadership, membership, timetable and remit have yet to be set out in the reported announcement. It is also unclear what recommendations it would make or how Labour would seek to implement any change. Those details matter because different systems would give voters different choices and translate votes into seats in different ways. For now, the proposal begins a political process rather than settling its result.

The next general election must be held by 2029, according to the BBC. Burnham’s pledge concerns the position Labour says it will take into that contest. Until the commission’s work and a specific proposal are announced, voters have a commitment to consider and campaign for reform, but no defined replacement voting system to assess.