Surrinder Chera reflects on Make Votes Matter’s first event aimed specifically at engaging Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities on electoral reform.

Black Votes Matter set out to explore how the current voting system disadvantages minorities, and what can be done to improve the situation.

On the evening of Tuesday 2nd July Make Votes Matter launched its Good Systems Agreement (GSA) at an event in Parliament hosted by Tommy Sheppard MP. Aaron Scott-Carter, Alliance Executive for Make Votes Matter, explains what it’s all about and why it’s so important.

Emma Knaggs joined Make Votes Matter in June as our Grassroots Leader. Here, she explains what’s coming up in the movement for PR and how you can get involved and make a difference.

Make Votes Matter has a growing network of dedicated volunteers and local groups across the country, from Cornwall to Norwich to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Hundreds of people are getting involved and we’d like to invite you to join them! 

Whether you’re looking for ideas on how to support Demand Democracy Day, our national summer action day, to discovering what’s new in the movement for Proportional Representation, our campaign update has it all.

The European election results and a series of ever more astonishing opinion polls are providing growing evidence that voters no longer welcome the protected duopoly of British politics. And projections of how First Past the Post might translate these votes into seats is revealing the true nature of our democratic system: irrational, contemptuous, even dangerous.

June 1st to 7th marks National Volunteers’ Week. To help celebrate the wonderful contributions that Make Votes Matter volunteers make, here’s a spotlight on three key supporters.

We know there are are thousands upon thousands of you out there and so from everyone in the team at MVM, thank you for everything you are doing. You are the beating heart of the organisation and we couldn’t do this without you!

On Tuesday 23rd April in Westminster Hall, MPs had the opportunity to debate whether to adopt Proportional Representation.

It’s eighteen months since this last happened - when Make Votes Matter’s parliamentary petition attracted more than 100,000 signatures and secured a parliamentary debate. A lot has changed since then, with the alleged arguments for First Past the Post looking more discredited by the day - and this was reflected in Westminster Hall.

Here’s what we learned…

On the very day that MPs debated Proportional Representation, a new report by the Constitution Society provided a devastating account of First Past the Post on its own terms.

In meticulous detail, it documents how our voting system no longer delivers the benefits its advocates say that it once did. Instead, First Past the Post is actively driving the UK towards “fragmented, unstable, and incoherent” politics, empowering relatively extreme voices, and propping up a two-party system that no longer bares any relation to British society.

It’s clear from the current chaos in British politics, whatever your stance on Brexit might be, that the appetite for change is ravenous. That’s the message I took away from people attending our first Movement Building Days on how to win PR in Harrogate and Bristol. People just like me who are hungry to bring about change through campaigning for a fairer electoral system.

With two such events under our belts, and more on the horizon thanks to suggestions of other towns and cities to visit, the whole team were extremely encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment shown by everyone who entered into the spirit of both training days with such aplomb.

A guest blog by Bruce Nixon, author, speaker, blogger and activist (pictured).

In the 21st Century, I believe we need a completely different political leadership model.

Until now, much of human history has been about building empires and nations fighting each other for power and resources. The British Empire, backed by a huge navy, was the most successful example. We were the best at war. Now collaboration needs to be the name of the game.

Two movement building days for everyone who wants to win Proportional Representation in years, not decades.

On Tuesday 11th December more than 150 activists from around 65 constituencies came to Westminster to lobby parliamentarians for a change in the way MPs are elected to the House of Commons.

It seems a long time ago, but we’re still buzzing from all the excitement of conference season and the wonderful, inspiring people we met along the way…

Our lobbying campaign aims to get people who want seats to match votes - people just like you - talking to their MPs about why First Past the Post (FPTP) must be replaced with a form of Proportional Representation. Dozens of meetings have taken place and the campaign is already making noise!

On Saturday 21st July, Make Votes Matter and Unlock Democracy took to the streets of Birmingham to host our biggest single event of the year - #FairVotesFestival. Local groups, volunteers, and first time activists all came together to urge parties across the political spectrum to back Proportional Representation.

Just one in three people believe British democracy is worth celebrating, so when the government announced a “week-long celebration of democracy” the movement to make votes matter organised the the biggest mobilisation for Proportional Representation in living memory!

Find out what happened on the day, read media coverage of the campaign during “National Democracy Week” , and get involved in the next stage of the campaign for real democracy in the UK.

Data mining, dark ads, fake news, Russian bots… our voting system is acutely vulnerable to shady influences because of its fixation on marginal constituencies.