the king's speech 2024
a labour programme for democratic renewal
The general election of 4 July 2024 saw an end to 14 years of Tory chaos and misrule.
Labour's 2024 election manifesto included important commitments to democratic renewal. We welcome these proposals wholeheartedly and hope the incoming Labour government will move forward with them.
We were pleased to see commitments to votes for 16-17 year olds, improvements to voter registration, addressing the inconsistencies in voter ID rules and reform of the House of Lords.
However, we also believe that an incoming Labour government should introduce a Democratic Reform Bill in the first King’s Speech to address wider issues of democratic renewal. Labour's National Policy Forum documents criticise First Past the Post as a cause of distrust and alienation in our politics. We believe that Labour in government should start an open and inclusive process of evidence gathering to look at the options and merits of different voting systems to rescind the anti-democratic measures introduced by the Conservative government since 2010.
The King’s Speech should enhance the democratic commitments in Labour’s Manifesto by including:
Bringing politics closer to people - Extending the franchise
- A preferential voting system for elected Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners
- The introduction of automatic voter registration
- An enhanced National Curriculum requirement for citizenship education in schools
Structural changes to improve the governance of the country and enhance democracy
- A UK Constitutional Convention drawing on evidence from Citizens’ Assemblies to initiate public debate, identify possible reforms, and provide advice and guidance to the government on all matters of democratic renewal
- Consultation on the adoption of STV for local elections in England
- The appointment of a government minister for political and constitutional reform
We wrote to all Labour MPs just after the election, inviting them to support this programme of democratic renewal.