The Left should campaign for an end to our “antiquated electoral system”

“It is impossible in any broad way to dissociate Liberalism from Labour. They have the same root in aspiration and purpose, the same resolve at all cost to place the welfare of the community above that of any class – Labour as representing by far the most numerous class may sometimes tend to forget this, but not for long … At present they are forced into an unnatural antagonism by the limitations of an antiquated electoral system wholly unsuited to the needs of the day, but the moment that is reformed and proportional representation gives us a true mirror of the nation the truth will emerge … They [Labour and Liberals] may never combine, but they should always understand, and in the main support each other.” C.P. Scott 1922

The great liberal journalist C.P. Scott wrote this just over one hundred years ago and it remains as true today as it was then. In particular Scott’s support for PR rings a very audible bell in these binary times. To be “of the Left” does not mean that we share a precisely similar ideology. There are large overlaps in our beliefs but there are subtle differences as well. Socialists are different from Social Democrats who are in turn different from Liberals but our electoral system fails to reflect this.

When the Gang of Four founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1980 it was a practical manifestation of the differences between the collectivist Socialism of Foot and Benn and the democratic socialism of Jenkins and Shirley Williams. When the SDP combined with the Liberal Party to fight elections it demonstrated Scott’s premise that they shared the same “roots and aspirations”.

The Foot and Benn takeover of the Labour Party, which forced the creation of the SDP, was broadly similar to Jeremy Corbyn’s takeover of Labour in 2015. Both were rejections of the Croslandite leadership of Labour by Wilson/Callaghan in the 1960s and by Blair/Brown in 1997 and the first decade of the new millennium.

The merger of the Liberals and the SDP which created the Liberal Democrats was actually a takeover by the Liberals and a defeat for the social democrats who returned to Labour in droves. Roy Jenkins, arguably always a closet Liberal, was comfortable in the LibDems because they were, as he was, anti Socialist – if fairly quietly so!

Blair and Brown were anti Socialist as well – at least the Bennite version of it. Tony Crosland’s “The Future of Socialism” in 1956 was in effect a social democratic tract – he had argued that Labour had to be less collectivist, less obsessed with public ownership and more pragmatically leftist. More “Liberal” you might say by C.P. Scott’s definition.

If we had PR the various strands of Left thinking and beliefs would have clearly separate political parties. You can divide this variously but my own model would be:

▪️Socialist – collectivist, pro public ownership, strongly redistributive, anti NATO and (probably) EU. Pacifist and pro disarmament. Ideological.

▪️Green – heavy emphasis on environmental issues, broadly collectivist. Pro EU.

▪️Labour – Socially democratic, mixed economy supportive, internationalist and pro EU and NATO. Non ideological. Pragmatic on environmental issues.

Liberal – pro regulated free enterprise. Strongly internationalist and pro EU and NATO. Strongly environmentalist.

Proportional Representation does, as Scott said, give us a true “mirror of the nation”. It leads to coalition and moderation. If my Party model prevailed many combinations of coalition are imaginable – that would depend, of course, on election outcomes. And it would depend on how those of the Right organise themselves – but that’s a topic for another day!