Elections (proportional representation): Ten Minute Rule Motion

On 3 December 2024, MPs voted by 138 to 136 to allow a Liberal Democrat bill to be introduced in Parliament that would replace first-past-the-post with proportional representation for UK parliamentary elections and English local government elections. The bill, brought forward by Sarah Olney under the Ten Minute Rule procedure, passed by the narrowest of margins: a majority of just two votes. The bill proposes adopting the single transferable vote system, under which voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting one. Its supporters argue this would ensure that MPs are elected with broad majority support in their constituencies, pointing to the July 2024 general election in which Labour won roughly two-thirds of seats with around one-third of votes cast. Opponents argue that first-past-the-post is simpler for voters and preserves a direct, one-to-one link between each constituency and a single MP accountable to all residents. The vote cut across party lines, but followed a broadly predictable pattern. All 65 voting Liberal Democrats backed the bill, as did all four Plaid Cymru MPs and all four Greens. Every voting Conservative opposed it, as did the Democratic Unionist Party. Labour was divided: 60 Labour and Labour-Co-operative MPs voted in favour, while 47 voted against, and the large majority of the parliamentary Labour party (296 MPs) had no vote recorded. The government took no official position, and the bill's passage reflects the fragility of any consensus on electoral reform rather than a settled majority in its favour.