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Proportional Representation

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Thank you for contacting me about the UK's voting system for general elections.
 
I was interested to read your views about reform of the voting system, including the possibility of some form of proportional representation.
 
However, I am afraid that I do not agree with your views on PR, and fully support First Past the Post (FPTP). This tried and tested system ensures stability and clear governance, preventing disproportionate influence by minority parties with minimal public support, who typically end up holding the balance of power in PR systems.

The British people addressed this matter in the 2011 referendum by keeping the First Past the Post system for elections to the House of Commons. It is clear that the verdict was not only against the Alternative Vote system, but in favour of FPTP. The system is well established and understood by voters, and also provides a very clear link between constituents and their representatives in Parliament.

More often than not, FPTP results in a Government with a working majority in Parliament, making decisive government possible. It also allows the formation of a clear opposition that can provide an alternative to, and a check on, the government of the day.

The Government therefore has no plans to change the voting system for elections to the House of Commons.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

My Views

  • Agriculture Bill
  • Reopening of Schools
  • HS2 and the North
  • The NHS and Trade Agreements
  • The Trade Bill and New Clause 17
  • Prorogation
  • Support for Pubs and Alcohol Duties
  • Medicines and No Deal
  • No Deal
  • Newcastle United Football Club and the failed takeover
  • Food Standards and future trade deals
  • Supertrawlers
  • Driven Grouse Shooting and the Protection of Hen Harriers
  • British Airways
  • EasyJet and the proposed closure of the Newcastle Airport base
  • Assisted Dying
  • Yemen
  • Dominic Cummings and his wife and child
  • Bovine TB and Badger Cull
  • TV Licences
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
  • Future NHS Funding
  • EU Nationals in the UK
  • Proportional Representation
  • Trade & Global Poverty Reduction
  • Acid Attacks
  • Animal Sentience
  • Animal Testing & Cosmetics
  • Asylum Support
  • European Health Insurance Card scheme (EHIC)
  • Firearms Legislation
  • Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs)
  • Foreign Aid (Mail on Sunday Petition)
  • Future agricultural policy
  • Future fisheries policy
  • Health Education Funding Reform
  • Holiday Hunger Campaign
  • Homelessness Reduction Act
  • Immigration Detention for Victims of Torture
  • Israel and Palestine Debate
  • Leasehold Reform
  • Leveson
  • Lymphoedema Services Funding
  • MPs' Pay
  • MPs' Pension Scheme and Climate Change
  • Mental Health Policy
  • Online Gambling
  • Open University & Cuban Students
  • Organ Donation
  • Overseas voters
  • Parliamentary approval for final terms of the UK's Withdrawal Deal
  • Private Parking Companies
  • Public Sector Pay
  • Relocation of Unaccompanied Children from Europe
  • Repeal Bill
  • Sky and 21st Century Fox Takeover Bid
  • Sodium Valproate (Epilim) and Birth Defects
  • Stem Cell Donation (Anthony Nolan)
  • Student Finance (maintenance loans)
  • Student Loan Interest Rates
  • Student Voting (General Election 2017)
  • Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
  • Tax Avoidance (Corporate)
  • Tax Avoidance (Individuals)
  • Tuition Fees
  • Vet bills
  • Climate Change
  • Brexit
  • New refugee resettlement scheme
  • Immigration Bill
  • Hong Kong
  • The killing of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, Policing, Protests, Statues, Public Health Report, and Amnesty International
  • Wood burners and open fires
  • New Coronavirus restrictions for the North East
  • Internal Markets Bill

Guy Opperman MP for Tynedale and Ponteland

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