After the general election produced the most disproportionate result in history, there have been fresh calls to replace the first-past-the-post system with a fairer, more proportional system.
Usually, these arguments are heard mostly from the left, especially from the Lib Dems and the Greens. This time around it is supporters of Reform, who hold 0.8 per cent of the seats in the Commons despite winning 14.3 per cent of the vote, making the loudest calls for proportional representation (PR).
On the face it, they have a strong case. Under the current system millions of votes are wasted, and the seat share of most parties usually bears no resemblance to their share of the vote. Even though the Greens had their best ever result, capturing four seats, this is only one-tenth of the number that they would have won under PR. Meanwhile, Reform’s meagre haul was still better than Ukip’s result in 2015, when 3.8
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