Happy new year! 2021 begins full of hope for the campaign for Proportional Representation. This year could bring us two major developments that would transform the campaign: the return of nationwide in-person campaigning, and a real chance that one of the two largest parties will finally adopt fair votes as party policy this September.

Join the movement: https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/join-the-movement/

In-person actions: There’s been a surge of interest in equal votes since the 2019 general election delivered yet another Parliament that doesn’t represent what British people voted for. But for public health reasons these new activists haven’t yet been able to take to the streets.

Once it is safe to do so, Make Votes Matter will return to in-person campaigns with this new and increased volunteer network. We’ve been busy organising socially-distanced actions during 2020. But in 2021 we’re ready to coordinate our biggest and best action days yet.

Labour for a New Democracy: Our movement is made up of supporters of every party and none. Every opposition party in Great Britain besides Labour already supports PR, but this could be the year that Labour also decisively backs equal votes.

The signs are encouraging: over 120 Constituency Labour Parties have passed motions on PR; the grassroots and the leadership both appear open to electoral reform; and three affiliated trade unions have declared their support. It’s quite a strong start, but we know that there is still plenty of road to be travelled before PR becomes the party’s official policy - and more than a few holdouts who will fight equal votes every step of the way.

So 11 different organisations have formed the Labour for a New Democracy coalition to push for the party to adopt PR as policy at the party’s next conference in September 2021. There are nine very busy months ahead.

How do we make it happen? We have big plans for 2021. I’d like to ask whether you can chip in a few pounds to fuel all of these actions? You can check out Make Votes Matter’s Crowdfunder here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/proportional-representation-2021 

And the electoral reform group Make Votes Count will match every pound that you donate to Make Votes Matter through this Crowdfunder with a pound for Labour for a New Democracy. So you can turn a £10 donation into £20 and support both these vital campaigns at once! Take a look: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/proportional-representation-2021

A big thank you to everyone who has chipped in so far! I’m looking forward to taking action with you this year.

With hope and dedication,

Owen and all the team at Make Votes Matter