Mastodawn

So ... the petition to ask parliament to change electoral rules to mandate a by-election if an MP switched party, reached over 100,000 signatures. So was duly debated in said parliament.
The record of that debate is in Hansard: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-03-16/debates/3369EB1A-E60E-4478-9299-BEF08EA9AA30/MemberDefectionsAutomaticBy-Elections
Interesting points made. It's a shame that more MPs didn't attend. It looked to me like those who did attend were leaning towards the idea that it would be appropriate. The strong point emerging is the one that had me signing the petition: that while we do elect individuals, they have a party affiliation next to their name and research shows that for a majority of voters it is that party affiliation that tends to hold sway in their voting.
#UKpolitics #elections #MPstandards #FPtP

Member Defections: Automatic By-elections - Hansard - UK Parliament

Hansard record of the item : 'Member Defections: Automatic By-elections' on Monday 16 March 2026.

Claire McNab Mar 8

Why is #CliveLewis?

The #LabourParty MP for Norwich South is a good critic of #neoliberalism, and of public alienation from politics. He is right that proportional representation could open up politics, tho like most English critics of #FPTP he seems unaware of the importance of #STV.

But all he seems to do about it is 3 or 4 articles per year in #TheGuardian and a few TV appearances.

Radical change requires sustained hard work to build movements. Clive isn't that.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/08/foundation-lives-crisis-debate-byelection-politics

While people feel the foundations of their lives are shaking, this deep political crisis will continue

The partisan debate since the Gorton and Denton byelection risks blinding us to the truth. People are rejecting wholesale the way our politics has developed, says Labour MP Clive Lewis

The Guardian

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harryprayiv Mar 6

@farbel I like how you think you have agency in this decision. You are being forced to pick between two parties due to the US being a sham democracy that still uses #fptp .

Also, you should probably look into how the DNC does primaries. According to 2016 civil suit, they have no obligation to abide by election laws because they are a private organization.

In fact, short of a massive scandal, Gavin Newsom is already 99.999999% likely to be the next president.
Wake up. It’s not up to us.

MidgePhoto Mar 3

#FPTP voting is obsolete.
But conflating the first sensible alternative to it #STV )single transferable vote_ with #proportionalRepresentation is unhelpful.

Most of us will have a first choice, but many of us will not get that choice elected. But most of us will have a second choice and if pressed could manage to rank the last two parties in order of worst.

And the satisfaction of having your second choice, not your 5th choice, elected is at least moderate.

#UKPol #elections

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Tom Stoneham Mar 2

@iaruffell @ZackPolanski
Hah! I wasn't predicting - but after the G&D success, teh commentariat will be busy speculating on various things and I'm sure this will be one of them. It is an opportunity to be clear that #PR is about genuine democracy and not 'rewarding losers' (as Conservative Home once put it).

If you believe in #PR, you believe even those who really really disagree with should have power proportional to their support. Say it now, while riding the wave of success under #FPTP.

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Andy Wootton Mar 2

@tompearce49 I think it is best not to link urgently needed electoral reform to replacing the House of Lords. The Lords have been more reliable at representing the will of the (English and Welsh, at least) people than the elected chamber over the last few years so that change will be tangled in the weeds for years.

We NEED a simple change to a transferable votes system to save British democracy. It's obviously fairer than #FPTP and a very simple change to replace the need for tactical voting.

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Police State UK Mar 1

"Unfortunately under a First Past The Post (#FPTP) voting system such an outcome is a recipe for the next UK government to be a Trump tribute act."

#UKPol

Emeritus Prof Christopher May Mar 1

Returning to the implications of the Green Party of England & Wales winning the Gorton & Denton by-election, @sjwrenlewis offers an interesting (but also perhaps worrying) analysis of what this means for the necessary tactical voting to defeat the Right in at the next general election.

You may agree or disagree with his analysis of voters' intent, but its a usefully pragmatic analysis of the prospects for the progressive left.

#TacticalVoting #politics #Greens #FPTP
https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/03/why-gorton-and-denton-is-still-good.html

Why Gorton and Denton is still a good result for Reform

It was a great result for the Greens, and a terrible result for Labour. Although Reform didn’t win the Gorton and Denton by-election, by c...

Tom Stoneham Feb 28

One conclusion from the by-election seems to be that the @thegreenparty is likely to benefit from #FPTP in the near future because their opposition is split between Reform and Labour.

So it will be a real test of their commitment to democracy for them to continue emphasis on #PR as a policy.

Will @ZackPolanski say: We don't *want* 100% of the power on 40% of the vote. We want government to reflect the political diversity of the country.

Graciousness in victory

(I say this as a GP member)

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Andy Wootton Feb 26

@kibcol1049 It's "too close to call" but predicted 60% Left to 30% Far Right, so #FPTP has been proved to be anti-democratic. Labour needs to fix this before a General Election or we risk losing our freedom to say "No!" to fascism, without violence. Reform are already planning to take Council pensions, to invest in their dodgy friends. I don't trust the Far Right with money. Electoral Reform needs urgent cross-party co-operation. Let the record show Farage thought so too, a couple of years ago.