We need a proportional voting system

The general election result has highlighted the unfairness of the electoral system and the time has come for the introduction of some form of proportional representation.

The 3.65m Liberal Democrat voters only elected 11 MPs - this equates to 331,000 votes per MP. To elect a Conservative took just 38,000 votes. How can this be described as a functioning democracy? It is even worse if you voted for the Green Party when 857,000 votes only elected a single MP.

Despite having a 4.3% increase in the share of the vote - the biggest of any party - the number of Liberal Democrat MPs has gone down, squeezed out by a voting system that benefits the established parties.

Liberal Democrats have advocated proportional representation ever since the party was formed and the manifesto identified a preference for a single transferable voting system.

"Labour and Conservatives will not change the system that has always entrenched their privileged position. We understand that British politics needs to be reformed to make it more representative and empower citizens." Liberal Democrat party manifesto 2019.

If people do not want to be faced with choices between two extremes, we need to have a voting system where every vote counts and policies matter more than personalities.