Sir Ed Davey has urged incoming prime minister Andy Burnham to introduce proportional representation (PR) before the next general election, without holding a referendum on the issue first.
The Lib Dem leader said his party was willing to work with Burnham on changing the voting system, and if he was “serious about changing the way we do politics” then “my door is open”.
If Labour waited until after the next election to change the voting system, it might be “too late,” he said in a speech.
Burnham, who is set to be confirmed as Labour leader on Friday and prime minister on Monday, said last year, external: “There is nothing more unstoppable than an idea whose time has come, and PR’s time has come.”
But during his by-election campaign last month, Burnham suggested he would not change the voting system immediately if he became prime minister.
Last week, in a Reddit forum, he said would “seek to persuade my own party” of the need to include a commitment to electoral reform in Labour’s next election manifesto.
He wrote: “I am a strong supporter of electoral reform, partly because I believe it will enable the change to a more collaborative politics, and one that is less about point-scoring and more about problem-solving.”
More than 80 Labour MPs have signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, external calling for a commission on electoral reform to investigate ways to ensure the voting system is “fair, representative and sustains public confidence”.
The amendment, which is also backed by Lib Dem MPs and others, has been tabled by Labour’s Alex Sobel and is set to be debated in the autumn, in what could prove to be an early test for Burnham on the issue.
The UK has a patchwork of different voting systems, external, with only the Westminster Parliament and local authorities in England and Wales retaining first-past-the-post (FPTP).
