Resources

At this point, in the wake of the 2024 election, we think it's most useful for each CLP or branch to use their own wording for motions, focusing on the issues most important to their own members.

We would encourage you to:

• Welcome Labour's historic election victory of 2024.
• Refer to the policy documents published by Labour's National Policy Forum in 2023 - particularly the passage on Page 62 which refer to the "mistrust and alienation" brought about by the current voting system.
• Note that as well as being unfair, FPTP is also unstable, with the possibility of small changes in vote share giving rise to sweeping changes in the composition of parliament. PR would avoid a return to the 1980s or the 2010s, periods that saw Labour out of office for over a decade.
• Include a section in your motion allowing your branch or CLP to affiliate to LCER - our affiliation programme is a key to our future success.
• Keep your motion brief - a short motion is generally better received, and 600 words is the limit for online submissions to the National Policy Forum.

When your resolution has been passed, please:

• Email us with the name of your organisation, the text of the resolution you passed, and the date when it was passed.
• Upload your motion to the website of the National Policy Forum. The policy commission currently dealing with constitutional issues is Safe and Secure Communities.

A couple of draft resolutions are included below for inspiration.

Proposer: [Name of Member]

Seconder: [Name of Member]

[Name of CLP or Branch]:

• Welcomes Labour's historic election victory of 2024, ending 14 years of Tory chaos.
• Notes the overwhelming support among Labour Party members and affiliated Trade Unions for the UK's First Past the Post voting system to be replaced by a system of proportional representation, as evidenced by repeated opinion polls and the vote in favour of PR at the 2022 Labour Party Conference.
• Notes the fact that a change in the voting system is now also supported by a majority of the electorate.
• Notes also that the 2023 policy document of the National Policy Forum refers to the flaws in the current voting system are contributing to the distrust and alienation we see in politics.
• Supports the principle that in any election all votes should count, and seats should be allocated broadly in line with the votes cast.
• Welcomes the commitment in Labour's 2024 election manifesto to a suite of democratic reforms; but believes that many of these will only be fully effective if underpinned by a proportional voting system for Westminster. For example, extending the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds will only be fully effective if all votes count equally for these new voters.
• Calls upon the Labour government to set up a broadly based process to investigate and consult on the best means of introducing a  proportional voting system for the House of Commons, this process to report back in time for proposals to be made in the next general election manifesto.
• Resolves to affiliate to the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform.

If you are a trade unionist planning a debate on voting reform, please get in touch with our friends at Politics for the Many, the trade union campaign for democratic reform.

As well as advising on model resolutions, they are able to supply speakers to branch or regional meetings or other events.

Our political system has catastrophically failed to represent people’s wishes, needs and votes.

No one voted for housing food, heating or transport to be beyond the means of ordinary people.

No one voted for our health, education and justice systems to be underfunded past breaking point. To build a better society address distrust and alienation in politics and to safeguard the union, everyone must have an equal voice.

First Past the Post (FPTP) does long-term damage to the health of our democracy. Labour must commit to fixing it.

In the 2019 General Election, there were: 38,264 votes for every Tory MP elected; 50,836 for every Labour MP, 25,882 for every SNP MP.

Devolution was a major achievement of the last Labour government. Labour is already committed to extending democracy, from strengthening devolution to Lords reform.

But our democratic system will remain broken – until we replace FPTP with a form of Proportional Representation.

There are systems of PR that retain a strong constituency link between MPs and their electorates, while ensuring that votes count equally and seats match votes.

Conference resolves that:

• Labour must make a commitment to introduce Proportional Representation for general elections in the next manifesto.

• During its first term in office the next Labour government must change the voting system for general elections to a form of PR.

• Labour should convene an open and inclusive process to decide the specific proportional voting system it will introduce.

Mover: Ashford CLP

Seconder: North West Leicestershire CLP

With this spectacular result under our belt, we're suggesting that our supporters do not submit further resolutions to the 2024 Annual Conference, or to regional Conferences, Women's Conference, etc.