AN ELECTED SECOND CHAMBER

Labour announced both in written and TV interviews this weekend a policy of bringing in PR to the second Chamber and making it directly elected.  I originally posted the below as part of a larger article on PR generally here.  In it I mooted that PR was not the best option for our lower House - Commons,  but was ideal for our second House - Lords, provided it was done regionally in order to respect the devolution of the three Home Nations aside from England and worked out what a PR second Chamber of 650 seats would look like on that basis.  In it's conclusion I said it would be even fairer if England itself were sub-divided into it's 9 administrative regions and one day when I had nothing better to do I would work out what that would look like.  Well it was raining all day yesterday,  therefore to save Labour the effort, I have re-worked my original post and worked out England's share by regions.

The first ‘cut’ would be an allocation of 650 seats (or however many it is decided to be in size) to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, based on the number of Commons seats using the 2019 Parliamentary Constituencies within each. Then the seats within each Home Nation's share allocated on how each party did in that specific Home Nation. There would be no need to hold a separate vote or election, nor even have a separate ballot paper (as they do in Wales) - it could be done at the standard General Election using the weight of votes cast at that time.  

To prevent cross-benchers etc, once the House is sitting, the seat once allocated belongs to the party and should a Deputy be suspended, die, renounce the whip or whatever then the 'owning' party merely replaces them.  For example, seats won by the Brexit Party (BXP) would now automatically be held by the Reform Party (Rfm), as that is what BXP 'morphed' into.  Should by some chance a party cease to exist in entirety without a clear 'heir or successor' then those seats get suspended for the remainder of that Parliament.

As an example, 650 seats, based on the 2019 constituencies equates to:-

England: 533 seats
Scotland: 59 seats
Wales: 40 seats
NI: 18 seats

Using 2% as a cut-off (which is generous as in similar models 5% is the norm) and  sub-dividing England into it’s 9 regions ( LOND, SWEST, SEAST, WMIDS, EMIDS, ANG, NWEST, NEAST, Y&H), then allocating seats to parties by percentage of votes within each English region in ratio to the number of Commons seats in that region,  (which encourages regional minority party representation, such as the Cornish nationalists, English Democrats and the Yorkshire Party for example and with a 2% cut-off and gives them an actual figting chance of gaining seats), produces a wide divergence  reflecting de-centralised opinion across the UK as I believe a PR-based Second Chamber should be as politically and regionally diverse as possible.  Most importantly, this 2% model also recognises 98% of all votes actually cast right across the UK.

SCOTLAND (59 seats)
SNP 27
Con 15
Lab 11
LDem 6

WALES (40 seats)
Lab 16
Con 14
Plaid 4
LDem 4
BXP (Rfm) 2

NI (18 seats)
DUP 6
SF 5
AP 3
SDLP 2
UUP 2

ENGLAND (533 seats)*
Con 255
Lab 186
LDem 66
Green 18
BXP (Rfm) 8

(*England consisting of:-)

LOND (73 seats)
Con  24
Lab 35
LDem 11
Green 3

SWEST (55 seats)
Con 30
Lab 13
LDem 10
Green 2

SEAST  (84 seats)
Con 46
Lab 19
LDem 16
Green 3

WMIDS (59 seats)
Con 32
Lab 20
LDem 5
Green 2

EMIDS (46 seats)
Con 26
Lab 15
LDem 4
Green 1

ANGLIA (58 seats)
Con 33
Lab 15
LDem 8
Green 2

NWEST (75 seats)
Con 29
Lab 35
LDem 6
Green 2
BXP (Rfm) 3

NEAST (29 seats)
Con 11
Lab 13
LDem 2
Green 1
BXP (Rfm) 2

Y&H (54 seats)
Con 24
Lab 21
LDem 4
Green 2
BXP (Rfm) 3

Which would then have produced a UK 2019 PR-based Second Chamber (a House of Deputies) of:-

UK (650 seats)
Con 284
Lab 213
LDem 76
SNP 27
Green 18
BXP (Rfm) 10
DUP 6
SF 5
Plaid 4
AP 3
SDLP 2
UUP 2

As I said, Commons should remain Constituency-based as now and remain FPTP. 

FURTHER POTENTIAL REFORMS

As an aside and as further reform:-

• I would make the Salisbury Convention applicable to all Bills as they transit both Houses, not just Bills concerning promises in an election manifesto.  This will stop the ridiculous and childish 'ping-ponging' that goes on now, and speed the Parliamentary law-making process up.

• I would change the way we vote, making General Elections a weekend affair, with the polls opening at 1800 on a Friday night and remaining open until 0600 on a Monday in order to make it more accesible to shift workers, lone parents etc.

• Restrict postal voting to the registered disabled, pensioners, long term hospital in-patients, people on chemo-therapy, people terminally ill, people in care homes, people overseas (such as Embassy Staff, Government workers and HM Forces etc).  Everyone else is fit enough and able enough to toddle down to a polling booth and slap an 'X' on a bit of paper. If they can't be bothered then they have voluntarily opted-out of the process.

• See if it were technically possible for people to vote via cash point machines, enabling voters to vote anywhere in the UK but the vote assigned to the Constituency in which they are registered (computers, robotics and artificial intelligence are supposed to work for us and make things easier for us after all).

• Bring in compulsory biometric ID cards containing people's DNA details, full palm prints and retina scan and make production of an ID card mandatory to vote in person.  This is the 21st Century.  You cannot register at a Doctors, claim benefits, claim your state pension at commencement, register for higher education, get a bank account, get a job, get a mortgage or take out a tenancy - either social housing or private tenancy, without verifiable ID.   You can't even be a minimum-waged security guard in a supermarket without three verifiable forms of identity. So I fail to see what the problem with a single, all encompassing  recognised ID card is. 

• Restrict MPs from being able to hold a seat for more than three consecutive General Elections in order to deliberately prevent 'careerists'.  After three consecutive elections, they must miss the next one

• And the biggie and most contentious of all.   Make it 'compulsory to attend' (less those with postal status obviously).   You will turn up in person and collect your ballot or face a nominal fine (say £10).   You won't have to cast it - you are free to rip it up and throw it in the bin if you wish.  You will not be required to actually vote, but you will attend. (The only exemptions being those granted the right to a postal vote under the terms I highlighted above).