Green Party supports Vote For A Change rally on Thursday

8 July 2009

Peter Tatchell, the Green Party's parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, said: "I am supporting a national referendum on fair votes and electoral reform, to be held on the same day as the next general election."

Tatchell will be one of the speakers at the 9 July Vote For A Change Rally in London, along with Billy Bragg, Dave Rowntree (from Blur), Oona King, Peter Tatchell, Jo Swinson MP, and Gerard Batten MEP.

The Greens believe a proportional voting system will re-focus politics on what the voters want.

Greens favour the additional member system (AMS) specifically because it tends to give greater proportionality.

Under AMS, if 30% of the voters want Labour to represent them, then around 30% of the representation will be Labour; if 15% want Green MPs, then 15% of the parliamentary seats will be held by Greens. This, says the Green Party, would far better reflect the balance and diversity of opinion among the electorate.

Tatchell continued: "The lack of a fair voting system is a subversion of democracy. The Chartists and the Suffragettes fought for a representative parliament. Their battle is still unwon. Since the Second World War, no government has commanded the support of the majority of the British people. If we had fair votes, we may not have had the Thatcher and Blair governments, and we would probably never gone to war in Iraq. That's why electoral reform is so important. It is vital for democracy and better governance."

"Proportional representation is an issue of democracy and justice. It will ensure that every vote counts and it will end MPs and governments
elected with only minority support," said Mr Tatchell.

Vote for a Change rally will be meeting the 9 July at 6:30 pm in Methodist Central Hall.

For further information go to Vote for a Change website.

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