A bustling Methodist Central Hall in Westminster saw the Vote for a Change rally commence in fine style. Ken Ritchie, head of the Electoral Reform Society introduced the event with a few words on why electoral reform is needed in Britain and how we as citizens can achieve it. Dave Rowntree, the drummer from Blur furthered these words and emphasized the need for citizens to be actively involved in rallying for a referendum on electoral reform and not solely leaving it to politicians. Following this speech, a number of short video clips were projected onto the screen above the stage featuring a number of high profile political figures.
Next up was Labour’s John Denham who emphasised his support for electoral reform and acknowledged that recent months in parliament have relayed fresh evidence for the need to modernise. Peter Facey of Unlock Democracy expressed his clear vision for electoral reform in his speech, highlighting the need for citizens to act as quickly as possible in influencing the Labour government to hold a referendum on electoral reform at the same time as the next general election in June. This passionate speech was acknowledged by the audience and complimented by the performances of KT Tunstall and Billy Bragg who both played live.
A ‘question time’ style panel was set up on the stage consisting of Peter Tatchell (Green Party member), Jo Swinson (Lib Dem MP), Gerard Batten (Ukip MEP), Chuka Umunna (PPF for the Labour party) and chair Mehdi Hasan (senior editor for the New Statesman). With this wide ranging and all supportive panel of electoral reformers the audience were kept entertained and informed throughout the debate. Gerard Batten indicated that the British public should be given two referenda on electoral reform, one consisting of a yes or no on electoral reform and a second on choosing the type of electoral system we think is best, such as STV, AMS, AV+ etc. All the panelists whole-heartedly agreed that the existing electoral system (FPTP) creates wasted votes, is undemocratic and maintains a status quo of the two party system.
This event highlighted the need for electoral reform and for us as citizens to do what we can to influence the Labour government into making the referendum happen.
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