Britain’s skewed election reinforces the case for voting reform. After 2029
The new government has more important things to deal with first
![300 of the Members of Parliament newly elected in the 2024 General Election.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240713_LDP503.jpg)
Among the questions prompted by Labour’s huge victory on July 4th is whether Britain’s electoral system needs overhauling. The party won 63% of the seats on only a third of the vote, prompting complaints from some smaller parties, and a few smarting Conservatives, that the result was unfair. The case for reforming the country’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, in which the candidate who wins the most votes in a constituency takes that seat, is becoming ever stronger. But it should not be a priority.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Lord, make us proportional—but not yet”
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