By @AnthonyBarnett: Will Labour’s next leader finally break with first-past-the-post? – via @LabourList labourlist.org/2020/01/will-l…
NB though - there is an implicit assumption that Labour would have to hold a referendum before introducing PR. I think that is wrong, and importantly wrong.
I argued here that Labour should - and properly could - first agree a version of PR with other parties (the Tories wouldn’t play, but so what?) and then just promise in its manifesto to implement the agreed PR version.
No referendum: but there’s no reason why (if clearly promised in a manifesto) you need one, in our system.
The point is important because a referendum on PR would take huge time and energy at precisely the point when a Labour government will want to be focusing on bread and butter issues. So it would be shoved down the “to do” list.
But just doing it by legislation (and in agreement with all parties but the Tories) would be well doable in the first year, without distracting Labour from other things it will need to get on with.
