Sir Keir Starmer

• ON January 31 2020, during the Labour leadership election, Sir Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras, said: “On electoral reform, we’ve got to address the fact that millions of people vote in safe seats and they feel their voice doesn’t count. That’s got to be addressed. We will never get full participation in our electoral system until we do that at every level.”

I was probably not alone in voting for him largely because of that statement; and he won that election.

The 2022 Labour Party conference voted overwhelmingly in favour of proportional representation, in both the constituency and trade union sections.

On April 27 2023 an anonymous Labour spokesperson said Sir Keir Starmer had a “longstanding view against proportional representation” and this has been subsequently backed up by statements from Labour frontbenchers David Lammy and Wes Streeting.

Do other readers find the recent statements at odds with the 2020 one? I certainly do. Perhaps Sir Keir Starmer can clarify and reconcile the different statements.

BARRY EDWARDS
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