Hi John,
There has been a lot in the news this week about the cost of living, prompted by the Chancellor’s big pre-budget speech on Tuesday . Rent, energy bills and the weekly shop…all going up while incomes are falling.
Most commentary treats this as an economic puzzle to be solved with clever tweaks to tax and spend. But the real, long-term solution to these problems is not economic…it’s democratic.
In my ‘Ugly Politix’ piece pubished on Substack, I lay out why First Past the Post (FPTP) is getting in the way of solving the problems blighting ordinary people’s lives. How it incentivises parties to appeal to a tiny sliver of voters in a handful of marginals, and lets them ignore everyone else. Why Millions of people are effectively voiceless under FPTP and, as a result, see their interests take second place to the needs of those whose voices are heard in the national debate.
Wages. Tax. Housing. Bills. Public services. If your vote rarely counts, your needs in these fundamental areas rarely register in government priorities.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Under Proportional Representation. politicians would have to listen to everyone. They would ignore ordinary people at their peril. Every vote would influence which problems get addressed in Parliament and how they are solved. Politicians would no longer be able to duck the issues that matter most to the majority of people.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read the full piece over on Substack. While you’re there, have a flick through some of our other articles…if you like them, hit the ‘Subscribe’ button and you’ll be first to see future articles. (Subscriptions are COMPLETELY FREE, unless you choose to make a voluntary contribution to help grow the channel.)
