Leader of Horsham District Council calling for Proportional Representation to be used in local elections in England

During a meeting of the full council, members discussed a motion tabled by Dennis Livingstone (Lib Dem, Nuthurst & Lower Beeding), who felt the system was more democratic than the currently used First Past the Post.

Proportional Representation (PR) is a system in which the share of seats a party wins matches the share of votes it receives.

So if, for example, the Lib Dems received 30% of the vote and the Tories received 40%, they would win 30% and 40% of the seats, respectively, meaning more views would be represented on the council.

With First Past the Post, the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they only received a fraction of the overall vote.

Mr Livingstone said the current system was ‘unfair, undemocratic and completely fails to represent the views of the voters’.

He added: “The council and its elected members try to treat all our residents fairly, so a fairer voting system of Proportional Representation will ensure that at elections all votes count and that seats won match the votes cast.

“PR is not without its flaws but does result in a more balanced system of representation.”

There was some disagreement from Tory councillors, with concerns raised about extremist parties being able to get a foothold and the link between the public and their representatives being ‘dilluted’.

Philip Circus (Con, West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) predicted that PR would lead to coalitions.

He mentioned the 2010 Parliamentary coalition between the Tories and the Lib Dems, describing it as ‘not a pleasant experience’.

Mr Circus added: “It would mean that people would not know what they were voting for until after the election, when the line-up of the administration and the policies of that administration would be determined in what, years ago, we used to call smoke-filled rooms.

“That’s how PR works. It leads to coalitions.

“It’s no choice for the electorate unless they know what they are voting for, not just in terms of names on a ballot paper, but also what they’re voting for in terms of the team and the policies they are going to pursue based on their manifesto.”

But Mr Livingstone felt the idea that people wouldn’t know what they were voting for was one of a number of myths surrounding PR.

He said: “Perhaps the most foolish one is that a proportional system will be too difficult for voters to understand.

“This implies that the English voters are the most stupid in Europe, as most European countries use a system of PR, including of course Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

And leader Martin Boffey said coalitions were ‘not this big scary thing’, pointing out the number of local council in no overall control.

He added: “What [PR] would actually lead to is elected representatives from different parties talking to each other and working collaboratively about what was in the best interests of their communities.

“Wouldn’t that be a lovely thing.”

Mr Livingstone pointed out that, at the last district election, three Liberal Democrat candidates were elected in Billingshurst with only 39.5% of the overall vote between them.