30-04-2025
First past the post electoral system has surely had its day
Forget the local election fallout for a moment. It's the four-way by-election bunfight unfolding in Runcorn & Helsby that should be turning heads — not so much for who gets elected but because of how low the bar has fallen to secure election victory.
With turnout expected to slump below 50 per cent, it is plausible that Britain's newest MP could take office with as few as 10,000 votes, just 14 per cent of their constituents. How did the 'mother of parliaments' end up here?
Let's first recall how we earned that accolade, with centuries of reform that shifted power from the monarch to the people: from Magna Carta, Simon de Montfort's parliament, an early civil war, the Glorious Revolution and a Bill of Rights
