London Lib Dems win vote to Fix Politics with cross party support

The motion, proposed by Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Gareth Roberts and seconded by Hina Bokhari OBE AM, passed with 11 votes in favour, 5 against and 5 abstentions.

Introducing the motion, Gareth joked that he now stood as the “supreme, unopposed leader of the London Republic of Richmond upon Thames”, but said the result showed the absurdity of a system where “51.5 percent of the vote” can deliver “100 percent of the power”.

He told the Assembly: “That is not democracy. It is what happens when an election was designed by Putin and executed by Kim Jong-un.”

The vote exposed divisions across City Hall, with every party except the Liberal Democrats and Greens split on whether to support fair votes.

Reform’s position came under particular scrutiny after Keith Prince voted against the motion and Alex Wilson abstained, despite Reform UK’s 2024 manifesto backing a referendum on proportional representation.

Labour Assembly Members were also divided, with Marina Ahmad, Leonie Cooper, Bassam Mahfouz and Joanne McCartney voting in favour, while Elly Baker, Anne Clarke and James Small-Edwards abstained.

Liberal Democrats said the Labour split came despite growing support for electoral reform across Parliament, pointing to Andy Burnham’s support for proportional representation, after he said: “I am committed to proportional representation. I think it would change the political culture. I don’t see how First Past the Post and the point-scoring inherent within it lifts Britain out of the doom loop it is in.”

The Conservatives split three ways: Emma Best and Andrew Boff voted for the motion, Shaun Bailey abstained, and Neil Garratt, Alessandro Georgiou, Susan Hall and Thomas Turrell voted against.

Gareth Roberts AM said:

“Reform had a chance to back reform today. They refused – despite the fact that proportional representation was a central promise in their own manifesto, but as soon as it starts to look like First Past the Post may suit them, they change their tune.

“The Liberal Democrats by contrast are willing to say the system is broken even when it benefits us.

“Richmond voters gave the Liberal Democrats an extraordinary mandate, and we are proud of it. But no party should win every seat on just over half the vote — not us, not Labour, not the Conservatives, not Reform.

“A landslide for one party should not mean a wipeout for local democracy.”

Hina Bokhari OBE AM said:

“Londoners deserve a democracy where votes count equally and communities are fairly represented.

“People are fed up with politics because they can see the system is broken. If we want better public services, more accountability and a politics that works for the long term, we have to fix the way politics works first.”

 The full text of the motion passed can be found here: Assembly wants reform of electoral systems | London City Hall