COUNCILLORS have supported a motion calling for a ‘fairer’ voting system for general elections.

The motion, proposed by Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Marks, was passed at the full council meeting on Monday.

He said: “A proportional voting system would bring the country into line with every country in Europe apart from Putin’s ally Belarus.

“We already use proportional representation to elect Parliaments and Assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“In 2019, 44 per cent of the vote produced a government with 56 per cent of the seats. It took 26,000 votes to elect an SNP MP but 800,000 to elect a Green one.

“A fairer system would better reflect the public’s range of views.”

Cllr Marks said, at present, only marginal seats ‘matter’ and there are a ‘vast number of wasted votes’.

He added: “A fairer system would do away with the need to vote tactically and encourage politicians to work together for the good of the country.

“Opponents of proportional representation say it would cause instability. Yet recent events in this country have hardly given the country stability.

“Instead, they have made our country a joke and significantly reduced our standing in the world and our ability to help tackle global problems.

“Leaving Europe was an unmitigated disaster and contributed to this instability creating a ‘cost of leaving’ crisis alongside the ‘cost of living’ crisis.”