by Cary Gee
ALAN JOHNSON has denied making a bid for the Labour leadership after outlining proposals to reform the voting system.
Mr Johnson’s plans, which would include a measure of proportional representation, were outlined in an article in The Times and are receiving growing support among his Cabinet colleagues.
Many backbenchers have also expressed support for a change to the way Britain elects the House of Commons, placing the Health Secretary at the head of an increasingly vocal movement for change.
Under Mr Johnson’s plans, voters would receive two ballot papers on polling day, under the alternative vote plus system. The first vote would be used to select their constituency MP and the second to nominate their favourite party.
Votes from the second ballot would be used to allocate additional MPs, in proportion to the number of votes cast, to any party gaining more than 5 per cent of the total.
Mr Johnson argues that such a system would enable political parties to re-connect with the electorate, but other senior figures in the Labour Party believe that any form of PR would reward smaller parties disproportionately.
Mr Johnson’s views apparently place him at odds with Jack Straw. As Home Secretary, Mr Straw quietly shelved the report from the Independent Commission on Electoral Reform, headed by the late Roy Jenkins, which made recommendations similar to those now being advocated by Mr Johnson.
The timing of his intervention has increased speculation that Mr Johnson, a long-time supporter of PR, is preparing to stand for the leadership.
However, he said: “This is a genuinely radical alternative that only Labour in government can facilitate. We need to overhaul the engine, not just clean the upholstery.”
Friends of Mr Johnson point out that he is not a new convert to some kind of PR, having previously pushed hard for the adoption of Lord Jenkins’ recommendations.
“There is really nothing radical in his opinions”, said one. “He is simply calling for the Labour Party to do what it promised to do back in 2001.” Mr Johnson’s intervention has received the backing of the Electoral Reform Society.
Although the ERS has a preference for the single transferable vote system, Ken Ritchie, its chief executive, said the adoption of AV Plus would “iron out the worst distortions of the current first past the post system”. He added that the time is right for change.
Mr Ritchie told Tribune: “When Labour first mooted the idea of electoral reform, the party had been out of power
for 18 years. There was an understandable reluctance to do anything that might reduce their majority. However, in an age of such great political uncertainty, there is a feeling in both major parties that they now have nothing to lose.”
The doubts of many Labour members, who remain unconvinced that a change in the voting system is necessary, might be assuaged by Mr Ritchie’s argument that the adoption of AV Plus could be beneficial to the party at the next general election.
He said: “Under current electoral rules, the Conservative Party seems to be heading for victory at the next general election. However, it is still a long way short of the support it would need to win a clear majority under the voting system proposed by Alan
Johnson”.
