Make Votes Matter

We analysed 80yrs of elections to consider the possible outcomes if an election were held today. Under FPTP, just a few % points of vote share is the difference between a Reform UK landslide and humiliation.

Welcome to slot-machine Britain! Our cover this week is on First Past the Post, the voting system that turns multi-party politics into a lottery.

Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...

Nearly every day we're seeing more voices in the media wake up to the crisis of democratic representation that we're facing.

First Past the Post is unsustainable. The only way to avoid complete chaos is to switch to Proportional Representation - now

Britain’s slot-machine politics Voting is becoming a high-stakes, wildly unpredictable gamble

💥 Excellent article in @economist.com about the absurdity of election results under FPTP - and its consequences:

"When the country has lots of medium-size parties, the correlation between the number of votes in, and number of seats out, owes more to Las Vegas than to Edmund Burke." 💯💯

One more statistic?

In the last 12 months, 47% of 324 divisions held in the Commons would have changed aye/no result, if seats matched votes -- including every vote on the budget resolutions.

That is, in these votes, opposing MPs represented more people but the government won anyway 🤷‍♂️

62% of people now support a party other than Labour or the Tories.* Voters are demanding real choice. *YouGov, 30 Nov-1 Dec 2025

16% of councillors elected in May had over 50% support It was 65% in 2021.

158 MPs and Lords calling for electoral reform The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections is the biggest in Westminster.

60% of the public want to change the voting system* The government must listen. *British Social Attitudes survey

Wrapped 2025 has dropped 👀👀

How has Britain's democracy performed this year? Let's check...

My guide to populist-proofing your democracy – before it’s too late | Timothy Garton Ash From public service broadcasting to an independent judiciary, these are the things that we must fight to keep, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash

Every week, more voices in the media are coming out against First Past the Post.

@fromtga.bsky.social is right: FPTP could allow any kind of dangerous populist to take power on a minority of the vote, or by taking over the ruling party.

PR would help safeguard our democracy.

In most modern democracies, the rise of new parties is seen as something natural and parliaments represent the public in all its diversity.

But our weird voting system can't handle more than two options.

People have moved on from the two-party era. Our voting system must follow.

It might have something to do with the fact that almost every government this century was elected on a minority of the vote.

Just saying.

First Past the Post keeps promising stability and delivering chaos.

Governments are elected on a minority of the vote. They impose their agenda without listening to or negotiating with anyone.

They fail and collapse. Rinse and repeat.

There is a better way. It's time for PR.

Rachel Reeves promises "stability for our public finances - the single most important factor in getting our cost of living down."

Under FPTP, we've had:

☑️ 6 Prime Ministers and
☑️ 8 different Chancellors since 2015.

There's no economic stability without fixing our democracy.

There is a better way.

Proportional Representation would give us governments that truly reflect the country, not just a fraction of it.

It would push parties to work together.

It would give Britain the foundations to grow, to innovate, and to invest in its future.

When sweeping economic decisions are made on such thin public support, nothing truly lasts.

Whatever is announced today, could be overturned tomorrow - by a completely different government, elected by an even smaller minority.

This keeps us stagnant, unable to plan and invest.

Today Rachel Reeves will announce the new Budget.

Yet again, changes that will profoundly impact our daily lives are being decided by a government elected on 34% of the vote.

This is not a stable foundation to build our future on. It's not what a healthy democracy looks like.

Totnes, climate justice and politics discussion Over two hundred people packed the Civic Hall in Totnes to hear an outstanding line-up of panellists discuss the links between democratic systems and climate justice. George Monbiot, Klina Jordan, Ant...

💥 Over 200 people attended an event hosted by our local group in Totnes, discussing the links between electoral reform and climate justice.

The climate crisis is also a crisis of democracy.

Thank you to @georgemonbiot.bsky.social and everyone who took part 💚

"With multi-party entry into First Past the Post, there are going to be people elected on 25% of the vote. I don't think the public mood with stand for this forever. I think we should be looking at fundamental democratic reforms in our society." Jeremy Corbyn MP The New Statesman podcast 24/11/2025

In the latest episode of @newstatesman1913.bsky.social podcast, @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social argues in favour of the UK adopting a form of PR - similar to the one used in Germany.

He's right. The country needs fundamental democratic reform: starting with giving everyone a vote that truly counts.

2025 Christmas Appeal - Make Votes Matter

❄️ CHRISTMAS APPEAL ❄️

With your support, we've made so much progress over the past year.

PR feels more winnable than ever - but there's still so much to be done.

Now we need to raise £60,000 to continue and scale up our work in 2026.

Can you help? 👇
makevotesmatter.org.uk/2025-christm...

"Is it not time that we had a proper consideration in this House of changes to the voting system, so that the next election is not a disaster for democracy?"

Great question by @maxwilkinson.bsky.social

The Government must wake up and get to grips with First Past the Post before it’s too late.

Petition to Democracy Minister First Past The Post undermines our politics. It leaves most of us with MPs we didn't vote for, and keeps delivering results that don't represent public opinion. The upcoming Elections Bill is a chan...

#PR #Democracy #proportionalrepresentation The upcoming Elections Bill is a chance to fix it. I just signed a @makevotesmatter.bsky.social petition to the Democracy Minister, calling for Proportional Representation. Add your name: actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe...

"The electoral system is at breaking point."

- argued @alexsobel.co.uk, Chair of @appgfairelections.bsky.social, on
@iaindale.bsky.social show.

In our multi-party era, increasingly unrepresentative election results risk undermining trust in our very democracy.

We need PR more than ever.

Britain’s two-party politics is fragmenting: what unintended consequences await? | Andy Beckett On one hand, no more safe seats or long careers could mean less complacency. On the other, no big parties could mean greater corporate influence, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

💥 Recently in the Guardian:

“If, as seems likely, the results of the next general election are more unfair than ever before (...) then the case for proportional representation may finally become irresistible.”

The faults of First Past the Post are becoming impossible to ignore.

It's time for PR.

💯💯

Time for a PR campaign Andrew Adonis (“Why you should stop thinking about electoral reform”, Prospect online, October) argues time spent considering reform is wasted as there is no certain route to change. Noting Nigel Farage has no interest in fair votes now that first-past-the-post (FPTP) promises to favour him, Adonis invites us to abandon hope. But the unprecedented fragmentation of British politics, with support split between more parties than ever before, should lead to the opposite conclusion. It is precisely because things are so volatile that we urgently need a better system and that a chance for reform could quickly materialise.

It is now “anyone’s guess what you get out of our electoral system”, says Professor Rob Ford. Under these conditions, FPTP delivers random, profoundly unrepresentative results where any party—even an extreme one—could win a majority on less than a third of the vote. With a record 60 per cent of the public in favour of change, it would be irresponsible to allow Britain to sleepwalk into such instability. MPs across the Commons are calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform: a time-limited, independent process to review FPTP and alternatives and recommend a way forward. Whether its conclusions informed this government or future manifestos or governments, it is hard to argue against the merit of such a process. I would also counsel Lord Adonis against too confidently predicting what the future holds for electoral reform. British politics has had a habit of upending expectations this last decade and, thanks in no small part to the voting system, it is now less predictable than ever before. Alex Sobel MP, chair, APPG for Fair Elections

We need to move away from First Past the Post. 🗳️

#PR #ProportionalRepresentation #FairElections

Full article: https://loom.ly/ojnMd-A

“If you had electoral reform... people could feel confident that, wherever they are, they could vote in a way that makes sense.”

In a recent episode of @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social @dmk1793.bsky.social discusses the problems with FPTP and alternatives to it.

🎧LISTEN open.spotify.com/episode/37ZJ...

Welcome to the multi-party era - Make Votes Matter Everyone seems to be talking about the new multi-party reality we now find ourselves in. While many are wringing their hands and worrying about fragmentation,

📰 NEW BLOG by our CEO Emma Harrison 👇👇👇

"The disconnect between this 21st-century electorate and our 19th-century voting system has never been clearer.

The multi-party era has already arrived. The only question now is whether our voting system will catch up."

"The danger is not that this generation has given up on democracy. It's that if nothing changes, they might stop believing democracy can work for them at all."

💥 For a new report, @demos-uk.bsky.social interviewed 700+ teenagers.

72.8% agreed: democracy must be defended at all costs. But many weren't happy with the way it currently works.

"Change the voting system" was proposed as one of the solutions. We agree.

Read more: demos.co.uk/research/ins...

Petition to Democracy Minister First Past The Post undermines our politics. It leaves most of us with MPs we didn't vote for, and keeps delivering results that don't represent public opinion. The upcoming Elections Bill is a chan...

💥 In just 5 days, more than 12,000 people have signed our petition to the Democracy Minister.

Can you help make it even bigger?

The government's Elections Bill could be published any day. We need a fairer voting system to be part of it.

Sign & share ✍️

Proportional Representation is an idea whose time has come.

60% of the public agrees.
More MPs than ever agree.
Supporters of all parties agree.

Now let's make the government listen. Join us today: makevotesmatter.org.uk/join-the-mov...

Petition to Democracy Minister First Past The Post undermines our politics. It leaves most of us with MPs we didn't vote for, and keeps delivering results that don't represent public opinion. The upcoming Elections Bill is a chan...

60% of the British public agree: our voting system is not fit for purpose.

The upcoming Elections Bill is a chance to fix it.

I just signed a @makevotesmatter.bsky.social petition to the Democracy Minister, calling for Proportional Representation. Add your name: actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe...

Petition to Democracy Minister First Past The Post undermines our politics. It leaves most of us with MPs we didn't vote for, and keeps delivering results that don't represent public opinion. The upcoming Elections Bill is a chan...

🚨 The government is preparing a new Elections Bill, promising to strengthen Britain's democracy.

But it currently fails to address the elephant in the room: the voting system.

We're asking the Democracy Minister @samanthadixonmp.bsky.social to fix this.

Add your name and share ✍️