Fairer Votes for Mayors says Weald of Kent Labour

The Weald of Kent Labour Party has called for the return of a supplementary (second preference) voting system for future mayoral elections. With the likely creation of a mayor for Kent arising from the Government’s English Devolution plans, WoK Labour has submitted a motion to the South East Regional Conference calling for a fairer voting system than ‘first past the post’ for a future mayoral contest.

The full text of the motion is as follows:

Conference welcomes the English Devolution White Paper’s proposals for Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local government reorganisation. The elections for new Mayors due to be held in 2026 are a crucial opportunity to strengthen growth, vital public services, and democratic accountability across the South East. Until 2023 Mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections used the supplementary (SV) system which allows voters to express a second preference and helps ensure candidates obtain broader support in their communities in order to win. In 2022, the Conservatives forced the replacement of SV by First Past the Post (FPTP) and as a consequence almost half the successful candidates last May were elected on less than 40% of the vote. Predictably FPTP also gave the Tories between 4 and 12 extra wins as 19 of their 20 winning candidates were elected with a minority of the vote. The White Paper acknowledges trust in politics is declining and is committed to address voting systems for the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. The Labour Government should, therefore, scrap FPTP and restore the SV system to ensure that the new mayoral authorities have the support of a clear majority of their voters.