Campaigners hold street stall in Hebden Bridge to promote electoral change and a televised debate
On Saturday 21 June, members of Make Votes Matter’s West Yorkshire group held a street stall in the Calderdale market town of Hebden Bridge, near the historic St George’s Bridge. With faith in British democracy at record lows, campaigners reached out to residents and local visitors to discuss how proportional representation can deliver a more representative and responsive democracy. They encouraged them to sign MVM’s petition calling for electoral change and to write to their MP about this issue.
The street stall was held in anticipation of Make Votes Matter’s Democracy Action Weekend from Friday 4 July to Sunday 6 July. It is being held to mark the one-year anniversary of the 2024 general election and to highlight the need for a fairer voting system given that it was one of the most disproportionate elections in British history.
From Camborne to Carlisle, numerous events and activities will be held throughout the country, from street stalls to fun runs to picnics to kite-flying. On Saturday 5 July, a Rally for Real Democracy will be held in Manchester’s St Peter’s Square. The Manchester rally will honour the city’s role in advancing parliamentary reform and women’s suffrage. If you are interested in taking part, you can sign up at Home - Make Votes Matter.
Building upon its advocacy for electoral change, the MVM campaigners also encouraged visitors to their street stall to sign a Change.org petition started by one of their grassroots activists. The petition calls for one or all of the major public service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky – to host a televised debate on the Westminster voting system, between keeping First Past the Post and replacing it with a proportional system. Participants in this debate would have to answer questions posed to them by members of a live audience.
According to YouGov, almost twice as many members of the British public support adopting a different voting system than keeping FPTP. With a Private Member’s Bill proposing this change for Westminster and English local elections due to receive its second reading on 11 July, supporters of this petition believe that a debate focused specifically on the Westminster voting system would be relevant. In the wake of severe party infighting within and ill-considered policy by both Labour and Conservative governments, the argument that FPTP delivers ‘strong and stable’ governments has been replaced with far weaker ones. The benefits of a constituency link are stressed despite people’s feelings of being left unrepresented and their incorporation in several fairer systems, or it will be conceded that FPTP is not a perfect system but that ‘now is not the right time’. Supporters of this petition want those who endorse FPTP in bad faith to have to try to present a cogent argument in a truly public forum. If you support what the petition calls for, you can sign, share and comment on it here.
Make Votes Matter organise regular campaign activities through Yorkshire. If you are interested in joining and supporting Make Votes Matter where you live, please email us at [email protected] to find your local group.