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Whoever is elected leader of the Labour Party they should consider embracing electoral reform.



If Labour had been more supportive in the 2011 referendum on changing the Westminster voting system then Jeremy Corbyn would almost certainly have become Prime Minister after the 2017 general election.



The Labour leader opposed electoral reform as he feared it would prevent him from implementing his ambitious manifesto promises.



You could argue that even seeing some of these policies come into force would have been better than sitting on the sidelines for the next five years as Boris Johnson runs riot.



In last week’s election it took 38,265 votes to elect a Conservative MP, 50,717 to elect a Labour one, 336,038 for a Lib Dem and 865,697 for a Green.

(Image: PA)





In Scotland Labour got 511,838 votes but returned just one MP while the Conservatives got 692,939 votes for six MPs and the SNP 1,242,380 votes for 48 MPs (one for every 25,882 votes).



The Electoral Reform Society has calculated the Conservatives gained a majority of the seats (56.2%) on a minority of the vote (43.6%), giving them a 7.4% increase in seats on just a 1.3% vote increase.



The political case for Labour embracing electoral reform should be obvious.



If it wants to implement left-wing policies then it is better to have some voice in government rather than no voice at all.



There is also a social case for electoral reform.



Boris Johnson may have a stonking majority but he was elected with 43.6% of the vote compared to the 50.3% accrued by the progressive parties of Labour, the Lib Dems, SNP and Greens.



When people feel their vote is not represented it only leads to resentment and alienation.



The UK still practises an electoral system that cements division and works against co-operation.



This is not sour grapes at the result, more a warning that unless Labour embraces reform it could reinforce many of the problems it seeks to address.

(Image: Getty Images)

The Government will use the final day of Parliament before the Christmas break to rattle through the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.



Armed with a healthy majority the Bill has been amended to reflect the government’s superiority.



Sweeteners included to win over Labour support when Boris Johnson first introduced the Bill have been removed.



MPs will no longer get a veto over any extension to the transition period and will have almost no chance to scrutinise trade deals with countries such as the US.



Protections for workers’ and environmental rights have been struck out.



Shamefully, a promise to give save passage to child refugees has been ditched



This is the hard Brexit the remainers fought so hard to avoid.



You may wonder if the Lib Dems and SNP, who agreed to Johnson’s demand for an election and therefore forced Labour to do the same, now regret their decision.



And whether Labour MPs who failed to back Theresa May’s softer Brexit now regret that decision.

Today's agenda:



9.30am - The Withdrawal Agreement Bill is returned to Parliament.



2.30pm (approx) - Vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.



What I am reading:



An excellent article by my colleague and friend Ros Wynne-Jones on how Labour can rebuild