Dear John,

Today, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) published its annual British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA). Amid an array of data and analysis gauging the views of the British public on how we are governed, the most significant trend emerging from the ‘Britain’s Democracy: A Health Check’ was as follows:

💥 Public support for electoral reform has never been greater.

A record 60% of people who responded to the BSA Survey believe that our electoral system needs to be changed.

What’s more, for the first time ever, a majority of supporters of ALL parties are in favour of electoral reform:

• Labour - 55%

• Conservatives - 52%

• Liberal Democrats - 56%

• Green - 90%

• Reform - 78%

This is a clear mandate for a change to how we elect our representatives, from all across the political spectrum, up and down the country. But how has this happened?

Open Britain believes it’s a consequence of many of the issues we raise, with you, on a regular basis:

• A political system which is unrepresentative of the British people.

• A Parliament which, due to its unrepresentative composition, makes decisions that are unpopular with the public.

• An electoral system which sees millions of votes wasted at every election.

• A public who feel their votes don’t count, don’t matter, and don’t produce the politics and politicians that they want to see.

• And - because of all of this - a democracy which is NOT fit for 21st century Britain.

Protesters gather in Parliament Square in 2022 to protest for electoral reform. Photo: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Live

And so, it’s little wonder that the arguments often used to oppose proportional representation are fading. Another unprecedented statistic from the BSA Survey indicates that:

💥 53% of voters would PREFER a coalition government to a single-party government (41%).

Similarly, only 36% of people think first-past-the-post is worth keeping “to produce effective government.”

As Alex Scholes, Research Director at NatCen, has said:

“The 2024 election highlighted significant challenges to Britain's traditional two-party system and the result has yet to restore public trust and confidence. With voter trust at an all-time low and a growing support for electoral reform, the political landscape is poised for potential transformation.”

Open Britain knows what the British people want from this transformation. We want PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

So what are we doing about it?:

• We’re the driving force behind the new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections - already the LARGEST APPG in Parliament - with 160 Parliamentarians on board.

• We’re working with partner organisations to galvanise activists and political figures behind the campaign for PR - and help us keep the pressure on MPs and the government to implement it.

• We’re educating and inspiring ordinary people to understand and use their democratic rights - most importantly their right to a fair vote.

The data published today only adds to our certainty that proportional representation will soon become the way Britain elects its representatives.

And when that happens - Open Britain will have been at the fore of the fight.

The work we do both in Parliament and around the country, with Parliamentarians and ordinary people alike, is ONLY possible thanks to our supporters.

With your help, we can dedicate all of our time, energy, and resources into achieving this fundamental improvement to our democracy - that Britain clearly wants and needs.

Thank you for your support in this mission.

All the best,

James Patrick

Campaigns and Content Officer

Open Britain

P.S. On the topic of PR, my colleague Matt has just published an Ugly Politix piece on how ranked choice voting (RCV) changed the tenor of the campaign for New York Mayor. Lots to learn from that!