What is Proportional Representation?
Proportional Representation is the idea that the number of votes a political party receives should closely reflect the number of seats they win in Parliament.
This stops a party from winning a large majority of seats without winning a majority of the votes, as can happen under First Past the Post. Instead, the make-up of Parliament would more accurately represent how people voted.
There are several types of Proportional Representation, such as Single Transferable Vote (STV) and Additional Member System (AMS).
How does Proportional Representation work?
Under Proportional Representation, seats are allocated so that parties' representation more closely reflects the votes they get.
The exact process depends on which electoral system is used. Some systems allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference (STV), while others combine votes for individual constituency candidates with votes for political parties (AMS).
→ Read more about Single Transferable Vote (STV)
→ Read more about Additional Member System (AMS)
Where is Proportional Representation used?
In the UK, Proportional Representation is used to elect the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd, the London Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and local councils in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Over 130 countries worldwide use either a Proportional Representation or a mixed system (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2025).
These include many wealthy, highly developed democracies, such as Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Austria, Spain and Portugal.
What would the 2024 General Election have looked like under Proportional Representation?
Under First Past the Post, Labour won a large majority of the seats in Parliament despite receiving 33.7% of the vote.
Under Proportional Representation, the distribution of seats in the House of Commons would have been much closer to the share of votes each party received. Labour would likely have won fewer seats, while the Green Party, Liberal Democrats, and Reform UK would have gained more seats than they did.
The exact result would depend on which Proportional Representation system was used. But the overall effect would be a Parliament that more accurately reflected how people voted. However, people might have voted differently under a different system, so we cannot know exactly what the result would have been.
Does Prime Minister Andy Burnham support Proportional Representation?
Andy Burnham is a supporter of Proportional Representation. At his first Labour Party Conference as Prime Minister, he announced a National Commission on Electoral Reform to look into options for changing our voting system.
He has also promised that the Labour Party will fight the next general election on a pledge to change the voting system.
Many other UK political parties are committed to introducing Proportional Representation, including the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and some smaller parties.
What is Unlock Democracy’s view on Proportional Representation?
Unlock Democracy supports introducing Proportional Representation for UK general elections and local elections in England and Wales. It is fairer than First Past the Post, which can no longer cope with our multi-party politics.
We welcome the National Commission on Electoral Reform. The Commission should recommend a new voting system for a modern Britain, where the seats parties win reflect the votes they receive.