Country saw benefits of PR a century ago

IN your May 27th edition, On this Day column, it states: “1900, Belgium became the first country to elect a government by proportional representation.” Not a lot of people know that, including me!

To think that a small country like Belgium should have the vision and determination to show the world that the future of true democracy lies in some kind of proportional representation is astonishing – especially as it happened over a century ago.

Even in those days, it seems, there were people who believed that in a real democracy everyone’s vote should be as important as anyone else’s; that outdated attitudes of class should play no part in politics; that co-operation not division should be the key word; that the good of the general population should come before party interests; that MPs should vote according to their conscience, not be whipped into submission by party bully-boys (is that democratic?).

We need more modern-day countries to demonstrate how superior proportional representation is to old-fashioned, class-based party politics, where MPs are told to vote along ‘party lines’ and not allowed to make up their own minds and be persuaded by the power of the arguments. And, if necessary, to vote with members of other parties, if they believe it will result in a better country in which its citizens can happily live.

This way of running things would be the prime example to the population of how matters are decided. Not the awful example which we witness every day in Westminster.

Gil Osman, Shirehampton, Bristol