THE Warrington and North Cheshire Branch of Make Votes Matter ran a street stall in Warrington town centre on Saturday.

Make Votes Matter is a national cross-party campaign, aiming to replace the first past the post electoral system, currently used for elections to the House of Commons, with a system of proportional representation, where a party’s share of the vote more closely reflects the seats they get in an elected body.

The issue of proportional representation is clearly building traction, and with a general election probably a little more than a year away we are now seeing political commentators speak seriously about the prospect of a hung parliament.

Whenever that election does come, the one certainty is that the outcome, as with recent general elections, will once again produce a Parliament that does not fairly reflect how we vote.

When we are doing these street stalls, we are finding that people are engaging in increasing numbers.

It is also very rare indeed for a member of the public to approach us expressing a desire to keep the current winner-takes-all voting system.

The Warrington and North Cheshire Make Votes Matter group is planning forthcoming online meetings and local events to further the cause of proportional representation.

Andy Watson can be contacted by emailing watsonandyj75@gmail.com.

A petition calling on local MPs to back proportional representation can be found on the Make Votes Matter website if you need more information.

ANDY WATSON

Warrington