Electoral reform later?

From a historical perspective the Conservative Party has always been out on it’s own, first opposite the Liberals and later the Labour Party. Is it any wonder they’re less than keen on Proportional Representation (PR) when they’ve never polled more than 49.7% of the vote?

With the Liberal Democrats and Labour having much more in common, the Tories could be forgiven for thinking that PR would leave them out in the political wilderness forever. At every Election the other two would gang up against them to form a coalition government.

This is why a successful Tory / Liberal Democrat deal could be pivotal. If the Liberal Democrats can prove to the Tory membership that they can work together, that there’s some common ground, it’ll show that PR isn’t the political suicide they suspect.

Such a situation could benefit the Country in the short-term, with the two Parties limiting the extremes of both manifestos through compromise on the Economy, Defence, Education and Environmental policy. The show stopper of Electoral reform could be left for another day.

But reform must come, and there are many Tories, especially those with MEP backgrounds, for whom this holds no fears. But as always you have to win the trust of the majority before progress can be made.

Sacrifices made during current negotiation on the subject of reform could bring greater rewards later in the form of all party support. We pro-reformers may need to exercise a little patience.