Andy Burnham thinks he's played his ace – but it's actually trump card for Reform UK
If Andy thinks this will endear him to the British public, he's gravely mistaken.
Reform has a trump card to play as would-be Labour leader Andy Burnham has again expressed support for proportional representation (PR). To be clear, Burnham a) has no mandate for such a sweeping change to the voting system, and b) likely sees PR as a tool to kneecap Reform and lock up a future of pan-Left, Labour-led coalition governments. Once there was a time when Reform – and UKIP before it – would have benefited from PR, a system of electing MPs whereby party representation in parliament broadly mirrors genuine support in the country.
This contrasts with our first-past-the-post system which elects MPs based on who gets the most votes in any given constituency, irrespective of whether he or she wins a majority in any given seat. Today Reform would do well from the latter system which, I reckon, is why Burnham is going even more all-in on PR. This is also why I suspect he may capitalise on a so-called 'Burnham Bounce' and call an early election to potentially have a mandate for such a change.
A Burnham spokesman this week denied there were any plans for an early election but I suspect this is more about quelling concerns among Labour MPs (whose support Burnham still needs to oust Sir Keir Starmer) that they could imminently lose their seats than a genuine commitment we can trust in.
In any event, if Red Andy really cares about democratic rights, why not commit to direct democracy? This is the system Switzerland enjoys. Switzerland has MPs but 50,000 valid signatures trigger an optional referendum on a law while 100,000 signatures can trigger a 'popular initiative' for a new law to be passed.
Shut your eyes and imagine how different the UK would be right now if we had enjoyed direct democracy. Consider immigration, crime, healthcare, housing, the economy and more. It doesn't take a genious to figure out why Andy Burnham would hate this idea!
But Reform should not! True, not everything under direct democracy would go Reform's way. But that's not the point. Moreover, my guess is on the big questions – like border control – the people would very much be on Reform's side.
As for safeguards, the UK could copy the human rights safeguards the Swiss enjoy or implement super- and/or double-majorities for contentious votes if they came up. It is worth remembering Brexit would never have happened without a referendum. That should tell us everything.
Andy Burnham would only go so far on democracy and voter rights. But Reform can go way further and outflank the so-called King of the North. Whether Burnham wins in the Makerfield by-election or not, Reform has an opportunity not to commit to PR but to a voting system which really put power back in the hands of the people.
