Andy Burnham’s rise to Downing Street means that for the first time in modern history we have a prime minister who is openly committed to proportional representation.
In recent years the new Labour leader has become one of the most passionate advocates for reforming Westminster’s electoral system.
Yet, his ambitions for democratic reform do not stop there. Burnham has also set out bold proposals to reform the UK’s constitutional settlement as part of a mission to ‘rewire’ Britain and make politics work better for people in all parts of the country.
As he stood outside of Number 10 today, Burnham promised to bring about “a new political model” for the country and to “change politics, to make it more collaborative, more about problem solving than point scoring”.
Andy Burnham is a strong supporter of proportional representation
Burnham has previously talked about how his experience standing for the Mayor of Manchester ‘converted’ him to the cause of electoral reform. Prior to becoming a mayor, he had only stood under First Past the Post as an MP for the former constituency of Leigh between 2001 and 2017.
In an ITV interview in May, he described how the ‘real change moment’ came when he stood as the Labour candidate for the mayoralty under the preferential Supplementary Vote system, which, although not technically a proportional system, lets voters express first preference and second preference votes . Burnham said this led him to pursue a more collaborative style of politics as he had to attract second-preference votes from people who might not naturally vote Labour.
He said: “The thing about that was is that it finally aligned the conversation on the door with what people want from politics, which is about problem-solving first and foremost, not about point-scoring.”
Earlier this month, Burnham repeated his support for PR in a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread and said he wants to put it into Labour’s next manifesto.
He said: “I am a strong supporter of electoral reform, partly because I believe it will enable the change to a more collaborative politics, and one that is less about point-scoring and more about problem-solving. I will seek to persuade my own Party of the need for a manifesto commitment to it in the next manifesto.”
Meanwhile, there is growing support in Parliament for the new prime minister to launch a review of the current voting system and look at proportional alternatives, with more than 90 Labour MPs backing calls for a national commission.
Here is a full list of Burnham’s statements in support of PR.
Stanch critic of the unelected House of Lords
Andy Burnham has long been an advocate for reforming the House of Lords. As far back as 2015, he criticised the unelected upper chamber, saying in the Mirror:
“We put a collection of establishment figures, old politicians and party donors into a grand second chamber with the atmosphere of an upper-class gentleman’s club.”
At the time, he called for the idea of electing the Lords “on a proportional representation system” to be explored.
In 2022, Burnham backed the idea of “an elected senate of the nations and regions to replace the Lords”, which echoed Gordon Brown’s recommendations for Lords reform.
In an interview last month, the former Manchester mayor recommitted to reforming the Lords, saying he “wouldn’t rule out quite an early change” to the upper house.
Constitutional reform’s place in ‘Rewiring Britain’
The stances Andy Burnham has taken on electoral and Lords reform fit into his wider commitment to ‘rewire’ Westminster and the country. Central to this is more devolution and greater powers for local authorities and mayors, warning that the “unelected state, Whitehall, currently holds too much power”, and loosening the whipping system at Westminster.
Because fundamentally, electoral reform is about who holds power. Britain’s voting system needs to be rewired so power flows up from voters, rather than being randomly dished out by a outdated voting system. Andy Burnham has rightfully identified the problem, it’s now over to him to bring in the solution.
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