Led by Donkeys scaled the scaffolding at Labour’s London HQ today to remind Keir Starmer of his previous support for proportional representation.
A video posted on the group’s Twitter account appears to show three activists securing a banner featuring a headshot of the Labour leader and comments dated February 2020, to scaffolding in front of the party’s premises.
In the video, an activist is heard asking if there is “somebody we can get down from Labour to sign for the new poster.”
They add: “It’s Keir Starmer’s own words in support of proportional representation.”
An official can be heard responding: “We’re not singing for anything, no.”
The Labour leader had supported a constitutional convention and electoral reform, announcing while a candidate during the party’s 2020 leadership contest that he believed in the need for a “fairer, proportional voting system.”
At an event hosted by the Electoral Reform Society, Starmer added: “I also think on electoral reform, we’ve got to address the fact that millions of people vote in safe seats and they feel their voice doesn’t count.
“That’s got to be addressed. We will never get full participation in our electoral system until we do that at every level.”
But in an interview with the Observer in 2020, the Labour leader ruled out including any support for a change in the voting system, as calls for proportional representation among senior figures mount.
He said: “There are a lot of people in the Labour party who are pro-PR but it’s not a priority and we go into the next election under the same system that we’ve got, first past the post, and I’m not doing any deals going into the election or coming out of the election.
“My message to all progressive people is simple: let’s not let the next hundred years be like the last. It is time for like-minded people to reach out across party divides and agree a wide-ranging programme of political reform.”
The Led by Donkeys stunt follows calls from Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to elect MPs using proportional representation under Labour’s plans for a “radical rewiring of Britain”.
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