UK Parliament home

Closed Referendum on changing the Electoral System To Proportional Representation (PR)

Closed on

We are petitioning for a National Referendum to decide whether the current electoral system should be RETAINED or REPLACED by a system where the number of MPs each party gets reflects the proportion of votes received nation-wide. Commonly known as “Proportional Representation” or “PR”.

A YouGov poll in January 2024 found that only 26% of people preferred the current FPTP system with 45% preferring PR so we think there is clearly a need for a re-evaluation of our electoral system.

In the latest 2024 General Election the biggest gap on record has emerged between the share of the vote won nationally by parties and the number of seats they have.

We believe most democratic way to decide this matter would be via a National Referendum on Electoral Reform.

42,329 signatures

Show on a map

100,000

Petition progress

View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.

  • Petition closed

  • Related activity

    Proportional representation for general elections debated in Parliament

    On Thursday 30 January, MPs debated proportional representation for general elections in Parliament.

    This was a Backbench Business debate led by Alex Sobel MP. Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister Rushanara Ali MP responded on behalf of the Government.

    Explainer

    Backbench Business debates give MPs an opportunity to debate a topic of their choice, and receive a response from the Government.
    They are a way to:

    • raise awareness of an issue
    • seek to influence government policy
    • put the views of backbench MPs, political parties, and the Government on record.

    They do not generally involve a vote on a particular action or decision.

    Chamber debates: See our visual explainer on how these debates work.

    Your UK Parliament newsletter

    Sign up to a regular newsletter on the work of Parliament and how to get involved.

  • Government responded to this petition

    The Government has no plans to change the voting system for UK Parliamentary elections.

    Read the response in full

    The United Kingdom has a robust electoral system which sits at the heart of our democracy.

    The Government has no plans to change the voting system for UK Parliamentary elections.

    The Government believes that the First Past The Post system, whilst not perfect, provides for a direct relationship between the member of the legislature and the local constituency.

    Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

  • Government will respond to this petition

    This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 6 May 2025.