UKIP supports proportional representation voting system for Welsh local elections

UKIP Wales Leader Nathan Gill MEP and Mark Reckless, UKIP Head of Policy Development, have today announced that UKIP supports and will be campaigning for a proportional voting system which retains a constituency link being used for Welsh local elections.

 

A new petition has been launched which calls for the National Assembly for Wales to establish a proportional representation voting system for all 22 Welsh council elections, which UKIP will be supporting.

 

Also announced today is that UKIP supports using the PR Single Transferable Vote (STV) system to elect non-executive members, including Chairs of Local Health Boards in Wales. We would want the first vote for these to take place at the same time as Welsh Council elections in May 2017.

 

The Leader of UKIP in Wales Nathan Gill MEP said, “In the general election, UKIP got 4 million votes and only 1 elected MP.  This is obviously untenable and things cannot go on like this. The first past the post electoral system is clearly bankrupt.

 

“We believe that it is incredibly important that votes match seats and introducing a proportional system for local elections in Wales would be a great step in the right direction. I would strongly urge those who agree with me to sign the petition for fairer votes at local elections in Wales and help make it happen.”

 

UKIP Head of Policy Development Mark Reckless said, “At the UKIP Conference in Doncaster this year I was able to bring in a change in UKIP policy to support a proportional voting system that delivers a result that is truly reflective of the number of votes cast, whilst ensuring that there is a constituency link.

 

“Scotland and Northern Ireland already use a form of proportional voting for their local elections, and we in UKIP strongly believe that local elections in Wales should follow suit.”