Andy Burnham should rip up our undemocratic first past the post system – even if some in Labour disagree | Neal Lawson

Rearguard reactionaries may try to block the idea of a national commission into proportional representation, but we should want more not less democracy A poll in the Mail on Sunday at the end of June was remarkable.

It had not just Reform as low as 21%, but also Labour and the Tories.

It was remarkable because it starkly demonstrated the fragmented landscape of the UK’s electoral terrain, as well as the electoral weakness of its main players.

Polls since have varied, not least with the Burnham bounce, but this week’s YouGov voting intention figures put Reform, Labour and the Tories on 23%, 22% and 20% respectively (although it almost no longer matters which exact figure applies to which party).

Add in the Greens and the Liberal Democrats on 13% apiece, the SNP dominating Scotland and Plaid Cymru Wales, then Restore UK and independent candidates and you have an unprecedented variety of options laid out before the British electorate.

Neal Lawson is director of the cross-party campaign organisation Compass Continue reading...