Greens called for an end to electoral First Past the Post system in an amendment put to the full council meeting today (28 March, 2018).
Sheffield Labour members have put forward a motion about tackling voter ID fraud. However, Sheffield is not included in the pilot scheme.
Cllr Alison Teal said, “So why are Sheffield Labour introducing a motion that does not presently concern Sheffield, and what does this say about their actions with respect to local democracy? At a time when Labour are under strong national scrutiny for their bullying behaviour and blatant disrespect for the electorate they seek to deflect attention on to the Conservatives.
“The real problem with democracy in this city, and this country, is the first past the post voting system. Neither Labour or the Conservatives will wholly concede this flawed antiquated method of apportioning votes is undemocratic because it maintains their power, and the two party system, which results in profoundly unrepresentative government at local and national level.”
Cllr Douglas Johnson said, “When I saw the headline “Democracy under attack,” I thought it was about the highways contract and handing over power to a private company.”
Notes
Amendment to NOM 6:
Proposed by Cllr Douglas Johnson; seconded by Cllr Alison Teal
Delete (n) and replace with
(n) believes, however, that the greatest disenfranchisement is of millions of voters who live in safe seats and therefore calls for an end to the first-past-the-post voting system.
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