The former shadow chancellor of the Labour Party has stated that party leader Sir Keir Starmer acted like a king during a disagreement over the party’s election reform stance.
John McDonnell supports a suggested shift in Labour’s stance on the UK’s electoral system.
He stated at Labour’s convention that policy decisions are made democratically and that “no one is above that.”
However, Sir Keir has stated that electoral reform is not a priority for his administration.
The Labour leader is under increasing pressure to abandon the party’s long-standing support for the UK’s first-past-the-post voting system.
MPs from all factions of the party have urged him to embrace proportional representation instead.
PR is the concept that the number of seats in Parliament should correspond to the number of votes cast.
Throughout the world, democracies employ a variety of polling techniques to ensure that voters feel their vote counts; in some situations, this is as simple as asking them to designate a second-choice candidate that they will support if their first choice is eliminated. This is not precisely proportional representation, but supporters of PR sometimes propose it as a more equitable manner of representing voter preferences.
The Labour for a New Democracy campaign wants the next election platform to include support for the introduction of PR.
At this week’s Labour conference in Liverpool, where the plan will be voted on, members of the Labour Party are scheduled to discuss their support for this initiative.
However, Labour sources have indicated that PR would not be included in the party’s agenda, even if members vote for it at their annual conference.
Sir Keir stated in an interview with the Observer this week that he would not include a demand for electoral reform in Labour’s manifesto.
Mr. McDonnell, speaking at a pro-PR rally organized by Labour for a New Democracy, stated that he had seen Sir Keir’s remarks.
Mr. McDonnell stated, “I believe all we need to do is gently remind people that all our decisions are made democratically.”
“I believe Keir has spent too much time with royalty during the past three days. He is not a feudal king.
He is an elected party leader who is responsible to the party and all of us.
“We determine these decisions through our democratic structure. I hope that this will be reflected in a productive debate.”
He expressed confidence that public relations would be included in the party’s platform at the next annual conference.
Mr. McDonnell was one of the architects of the Labour Party’s 2017 and 2019 election manifestos under the former leader, the left-leaning MP Jeremy Corbyn.
The former shadow chancellor stated on BBC Radio 4’s Today that the Conservative Party’s 80-seat majority in the 2019 election proved that the current first-past-the-post system is “unfair.”
“I still believe Labour will win an overall majority in the next election,” he continued, “but we must convince the public that we need a fair voting system to have a government that truly represents the people.”
Other Labour MPs showed their support for the proposal to include PR in the next manifesto by attending the event.
Stephen Kinnock was among them; he stated that public relations had “such a force of logic and obvious rationale in terms of why it is the proper thing to do.”
Mr. Kinnock stated, “A fundamental democratic argument is that every vote should count equally.”
Nadia Whittome, the representative for Nottingham East, stated that the PR campaign “has unified all Labour Party factions, including the left, the right, and the center.”
She stated, “This is not about where we came from in the party; it is about constructing a more democratic society.”
Approximately 80% of constituency party delegates voted in favor of adopting PR at last year’s conference.
The initiative was defeated as a result of union opposition.
Since then, three of the five largest unions affiliated with Labour have changed their position, placing pressure on the party’s leadership to conform.
