We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to promote a meaningful public debate on voters’ experience of elections, and let voters determine if there is a case for changing the way we elect MPs.”
Details of Petition:
“Voting matters and so do the systems used. The Government has tried to review how elections work from the comfort of their Whitehall desks, without ever actually going out and asking voters about their opinions or experiences. Democracy isn’t deskbound. The public deserve a real say in the evaluation of the different systems, including for electing our MPs. We now urge the Government to open up the debate and take it beyond Westminster, encouraging citizens to contribute into a meaningful consultation process on elections from the voters’ perspective. The decision on whether there is a case for changing the way we elect MPs should not be left to the parties and politicians who have a vested interest in the status quo. Voters need to help make that decision, as well as having the final say on which system to implement.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
The Government agrees that the debate on electoral reform is not just for politicians: that is why we published the Review of Voting Systems on 24 January this year. The Review can be accessed at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/voting-systems-review.htm. The Review was the Government’s contribution to this debate, and we are interested in people’s views in response to it, including about which voting system they favour.
The Review examines the experiences of the different voting systems introduced across the United Kingdom since 1997, and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of each. It also considers other systems, including some in operation internationally. We hope it will inform the wider debate on this issue. However, the Government continues to believe that the current voting system for UK general elections works well, and that any future change would require the consent of the British people in a referendum.
The Government’s immediate focus in the area of constitutional reform is on the range of proposals set out in the Governance of Britain Green Paper, published in July 2007, and on the significant changes planned to achieve a substantially or fully elected second chamber to replace the current House of Lords, as set out in the House of Lords Reform White Paper that was published on 14 July. The White Paper is available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/elected-second-chamber.htm.
We are planning a number of discussions on other proposals in the Governance of Britain Green Paper. Details of current consultations or other discussions on specific policy areas will appear on the Governance of Britain website http://governance.justice.gov.uk.
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