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Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is determined to urge Andy Burnham to introduce proportional representation before the next general election, warning that failure to act could make it “too late”.
Speaking at the Institute for Government on Tuesday, Sir Ed is expected to warn that Labor may find itself “powerless to do anything” to change the voting system once the election is over.
He will ask Mr Burnham directly for cooperation, saying that if Mr Burnham is “serious about changing the way we approach policy” then his “door is open” to discussions.
Sir Ed Davey open to working with Mr Burnham (House of Commons)
Mr Burnham has previously advocated changing the voting system for parliamentary elections to more accurately reflect the support parties receive across the country and has expressed support for replacing Britain’s majority majority system with a form of proportional representation.
Asked about his views on election reform during an “Ask Me Anything” event on the social networking site Reddit, Burnham said, “I am a strong supporter of election reform, in part because I believe it will move toward more collaborative politics that is less about scoring points and more about solving problems.”
He added that he would try to convince his party of the need to commit to this manifesto in the next manifesto, which repeats the proposal he made during his campaign in Makerfield.
The Labor Party conference voted to move to proportional representation in 2022.
Mr Burnham said he was a strong supporter of electoral reform. (Pennsylvania)
Instead, the party’s 2024 manifesto focused on electoral and constitutional changes on extending voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds and reforming the House of Lords.
On Tuesday Sir Ed will advise Mr Burnham to “be bold, be bold” in pushing for proportional representation, adding: “And do it now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
“Don’t wait until after the next election – when you may be powerless to do anything about it.”
Mr Burnham, who is due to replace Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street on July 20 after winning the vast majority of nominations from Labor MPs, has vowed to “reprogram” the British state and reach out to other parties to build a “more collaborative approach” to politics.
Sir Ed is expected to welcome the pledge in his speech, echoing Mr Burnham’s criticism of a “broken political system”.
He will say: “If Andy Burnham is serious about changing the way we do politics, ending performative hostility and instead working in Parliament to solve the problems we face, if he is serious, then my door is open.”