Rally for a Change - 9 July

Thursday 9 July 6.30pm
Methodist Central Hall, Westminster SW1H 9NH

Keep your diary free for July 9th, as supporters come together to call for real reform of parliament. Politicians have their own kind of change in mind, but we don’t need anything that is too cosy, too easy, or too popular with our political class. We have to join together to make our politicians listen - and understand that it’s us, the voters, who need to be put first.

Already Damon Albarn, Philip Pullman, Stephen Fry and a long list of others are demanding the right to vote for a change. We need your help to get over 1000 people together in Westminster for a festival of change. There will be music, poetry and the chance to put leading politicians on the spot. More details will follow soon but this is definitely an event not to be missed.

To register for the rally or for more details email:

Coach transport will be provided from Oxford and Leicester.  Suggested £5 donation on the bus. Anyone who can guarantee a dozen or more people from one place, we can investigate booking coaches or minibuses.  For more on coach travel, see here or book a seat by emailing

To download a flyer which you can print out and display, or email to others, click here.

And don't forget to add your name to the thousands already supporting the Vote for a Change campaign.  Sign up now.

Make Votes Count response to Brown's Constitutional Renewal Statement

“Far from real change by 2010, Brown seems to be offering only a vague debate and a referendum don't know when"

The Prime Minister's statement on democratic reform was not as bold as billed; in fact on electoral reform he has been far more timid than the circumstances demanded.

There is a real urgency to implementing reforms, to restore public trust in MPs and in politics as a whole. Voters have shown they are impatient with the main parties, and want real change in the way we do politics. So why does the Prime Minister continue to dither on opening up the debate and on timescales for implementing electoral reform?

Gordon Brown talks the language of quick change and ending the Gentleman’s Club when it comes to expenses. But he fails to bring that approach to the other area MPs still self-regulate and is now under scrutiny – the way in which MPs are elected.

Elections affect all of us. Decisions on how they are conducted certainly shouldn’t be in the hands of the politicians, whether those on the National Council for Democracy or on the Opposition benches, whose jobs-for-life are at stake. Is it no surprise that David Cameron is leading the resistance to change: he and his party stand to benefit the most from the status quo that currently gives MPs a monopoly of power. It is more of a surprise that Brown wasn’t even willing in his statement to repeat the 1997 Labour manifesto promise of a referendum on the introduction of a proportional voting system.

The Prime Minister talks about starting up the debate on electoral reform. But we’ve been having that debate for over ten years. In January 2008 the Government published as “a contribution to the ongoing debate” its long-awaited review of those proportional voting systems already introduced. The Alternative Vote Plus (AV+) was a system recommended by the Jenkins Commission back in 1998 after long and careful deliberations involving plenty of opportunities for public engagement and debate.

There is still just enough time left for completing an open public debate and then holding a referendum before the next election. The referendum would give voters the chance to register their feelings twice: once to get rid of a tainted MP in the General Election; and once in a referendum to choose whether to get rid of a rotten system and change things for good.

Even after his statement today, Gordon Brown still has the opportunity to be bold and start exploring this referendum option; to show that he is able to go beyond the self-interest of the political elite and give power back to the man and woman on the street.

Media Contact: Malcolm Clark, Director of Make Votes Count (m) 07733322148 / (t) 020 7928 2076 /