Collaboration could lead to reformed voting system
As the First Ministers of Wales and Scotland again write a joint letter to Boris Johnson – this time about a Covid meeting – could a progressive one-off electoral pact secure electoral reform? Political editor-at-large Martin Shipton reports
THIS week has seen a further joint letter to Boris Johnson signed by the First Ministers of Wales and Scotland.
On this occasion Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon were calling for greater clarity about the agenda of a meeting to discuss the pandemic.
Their representations resulted in a postponement of the discussion.
But there have been many other occasions when the two First Ministers, sometimes joined by the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland, have joined forces to express views they all share, usually related to some matter linked to the devolution settlement.
The degree of accord between the Welsh and Scottish leaders is quite remarkable.
Although Mr Drakeford has expressed concern about the future of the UK, he is at heart a Unionist - something that could not be said of Ms Sturgeon.
In Scotland the degree of longstanding enmity between the SNP and Labour has been considerable and bitter.
Only recently has Ms Sturgeon appeared to soften her anti-Labour rhetoric, offering words of praise and respect to the recently elected Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar.
The degree of hostility between the two parties stems from the fact they have been competing for the same voters.
Much the same could be said of the antagonism that exists between Labour and Plaid Cymru activists in the south Wales valleys.
But the SNP and Welsh Labour have set such differences aside because they have a bigger picture to consider.
The UK’s departure from the EU has destabilised the devolution settlement and created a situation where the UK Government is trying to seize back powers that have been held in Cardiff and Edinburgh.
Often the Welsh and Scottish governments find themselves in agreement about the way things are developing.
Every time Westminster tries to undermine them, they unite in opposition out of a collective sense of grievance.
The strength of this bond is such that it is not shaken by Ms Sturgeon’s commitment to the cause of Scottish independence or Mr Drakeford’s continuing support for the Union, albeit in a changed form.
Such co-operation ought to be extended to other spheres.
One of the great political challenges of the day is to achieve a fairer voting system, both in Wales for Senedd elections and for UK general elections.
The “first-past-the-post” method has largely been abandoned elsewhere in favour of a more proportional system, most notably the Single Transferable Vote (STV).
Yet here we are hidebound by an electoral process that in 2019 gave Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority with 43.6% of the vote.
It will not be easy to get the system changed.
The Conservatives have no interest in reform because they are the big winners from existing arrangements.
Opposition parties would have to win a majority in a UK general election fought using “first past the post”.
They should agree that electoral reform would be a priority for them in a future government, and make suitable manifesto commitments along such lines.
In the past, Labour has been reluctant to commit to electoral reform.
The party has convinced itself that one more heave at the next election might deliver it a landslide comparable to those it achieved in 1945 and 1997.
But winning on such a scale is immeasurably more difficult now, given that the SNP has usurped Labour’s former role as the natural party of government in Scotland.
It’s time it recognised that winning power at a UK level will have to entail co-operating with other progressive parties.
Wales can be the trailblazer in this respect.
It can get rid of the hybrid electoral system we have at present for Senedd elections and replace it with STV.
Labour and Plaid Cymru have the super-majority between them that would enable a reforming bill to get passed by the Senedd.
Yet still within their ranks there are those who are reluctant to change.
Hopefully Mr Drakeford will be able to persuade them to come on board.
One act of cowardice certainly needs to be atoned for.
Instead of helping to breathe life into Welsh local government by legislating for STV at council elections, the Welsh Government ducked out and allowed local authorities to make the change only if they wanted to, council by council.
So far there has been no enthusiasm for such a reform whatsoever.
As a local government official said yesterday: “The idea has been floated, but there doesn’t appear to be any appetite for it.”
Why would there be, when party barons can maintain the fiefdoms they have controlled for decades, thanks to “first past the post”?
None of the councils in Wales, whether controlled by Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives or assorted varieties of Independents, has volunteered for such a change – demonstrating that when it comes to clinging on to power, the Conservatives aren’t the only group with dubious ethics.
Will reform be achieved and a fairer voting system introduced that delivers fairer outcomes?
One Labour Senedd Member is cautiously optimistic.
Blaenau Gwent Labour MS Alun Davies, a strong advocate of switching to STV, said: “In his 1952 book In Place of Fear, Aneurin Bevan wrote about how the Labour Party needed to understand better the mechanics of power – and how power was always one step away.
“In many ways, Labour is a progressive socialist party, but it doesn’t understand the need to hold political power to effect change and has always shied away and been squeamish about discussing it.
“The ‘first-past-the-post’ voting system was designed by Tories as a means of maintaining their hegemony. There’s an urgent need to get an alternative. Labour is in favour of a constitutional convention, and Keir Starmer was elected leader on a programme committed to federalism in the UK. I think that in Wales Labour will move fairly quickly to changing the voting system at Senedd elections to STV, and I hope that the UK party follows Welsh Labour in backing a similar reform for Westminster elections.
“In terms of constitutional issues it’s very important to reach across the aisle to other parties, and if reform is to have a chance of success that will be absolutely necessary.”