Following the disastrous election of 1974, when Labour won four more seats but 250,000 fewer votes and formed an administration with the support of only 28% of the electorate, electoral reform has had many Conservative supporters. Since then, moving to a more proportional voting system has largely been off the Westminster agenda, except for the debates about which system to adopt for the devolved legislatures and the European Parliament.
Back in 1974 public opinion polls consistently showed that 70% of Conservative voters supported electoral reform. So, which MPs and Peers supported electoral reform in 1974?
Jonathan Aitken, Kenneth Baker, William Benyon, Peter Bottomley, Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler, Mark Carlisle, Lynda Chalker, Julian Critchley, John Davies, Geoffrey Dodsworth, Sir Nigel Fisher, Stephen Hastings, Barney Hayhoe, John Hunt, Douglas Hurd, David James, Anthony Kershaw, Evelyn King, David Knox, Ian Lloyd, Reginald Maudling, Anthony Meyer, Charles Morrison, Anthony Newton, John Page, R E Prentice, James Prior, Frances Pym, Tim Rathbone, Timothy Renton, Brandon Rhys-Williams, Nicholas Scott, Sir George Sinclar, Keith Stainton, Ian Stewart, Peter Temple Morris, Peter Walker, Richard Wood, Sir George Young, Lord Amherst, Lord Carr of Hadley, Lord Duncan-Sandys, Lord O’Hagan, Lord O’Neill of the Main, Lord Moyne, Lord Bessborough, Lord Caldecote, Lord Campbell of Croy, Lord Carrington, Lord Harlech, Lord Home, and Lord Hailsham
Since 1974, Conservative Action for Electoral Reform has consistently provided commentary and research to support the conservative case for electoral reform at multiple levels of governance. We have also been privileged to host multiple events include regular events of Conservative Party Conferences.