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Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour), on Friday, 21 June 2002, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 86 members in total.

FIRST PAST THE POST AND FUTURE ELECTIONS TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

That this House notes the comments of the Right honourable Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, the Minister responsible for electoral law, that 'Any provisions on European Parliament elections laid down by the Council (including amendments to the 1976 Act) need to be ratified with an Act of Parliament in the UK'; further notes that the UK is, therefore, free to adopt any electoral system of its choosing for future elections to the European Parliament; believes that, by removing the vital link between each elected representative and their constituents and consequently encouraging voter apathy, proportional representation has not served the UK well; also notes with concern that proportional voting systems in other parts of Europe have allowed far-right parties to gain a foothold; and further believes that the UK's next elections to the European Parliament could, and should, be held under the First Past the Post electoral system.

Amendments

The Early day motion has received 4 amendments.

1490A1
after 'apathy', insert ', the closed list system of'.
1490A2
leave out from 'that' to 'allowed' in line 9 and insert 'first past the post voting in English local elections has,'
1490A3
leave out from 'under' to end and add 'an open list system.'.
1490A4
leave out from 'UK' to end and add 'notes that honourable Members who support proportional voting systems, along with organisations such as the Electoral Reform Society, Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform and Make Votes Count, all cautioned against the introduction of the closed list system which was used in the last European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom, and during the passage of the European Parliamentary Elections Act, secured from Ministers a commitment to review the system after that round of European elections; requests the Government to report progress on such a review; believes that to promote democracy, any new system adopted for European Parliamentary elections should both allow voter choice between candidates as well as between parties, and provide for the number of seats won broadly to reflect the proportion of votes cast for each party; registers its concern at the increasing disconnection between citizens and the political process both in the United Kingdom and in other parts of Europe, revealed in both low turnouts and the rise of the far right; and urges the Government to look at creative ways of empowering voters and promoting citizenship to address these threats to democracy.'.

Secondary information

Type
Early day motion
Reference
1490 
1490A1 
1490A2 
1490A3 
1490A4 
Session
2001-02
Subjects
Elections European Parliament European Parliament members
Link
View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk