The writer is professor of politics at Queen Mary University London and co-author of ‘The British General Election of 2024’
本文作者是伦敦玛丽女王大学(QMUL)政治学教授，曾与人合著《2024年英国大选》(The British General Election of 2024)一书
Excitement among advocates of electoral reform has been building, buoyed up by the possibility that Andy Burnham may take over as UK prime minister. This is understandable — he’s an enthusiast too, and the fracturing of our party politics makes it look inevitable — but they shouldn’t get ahead of themselves. For good or ill, anyone hoping to see a shift from first past the post to proportional representation before the next general election, and without a referendum, is fooling themselves.
选举改革倡导者们的热情如今日益高涨，安迪•伯纳姆(Andy Burnham)接任英国首相的可能性更是助推了这一热情。这可以理解——伯纳姆也热心推动选举改革，而英国政党政治的碎片化似乎使这样的改革不可避免——但他们不应兴奋得太早。无论好坏，任何人如果希望在下次大选前看到选举制度从简单多数制(FPTP)转变为比例代表制(PR)，而且无需为此举行全民公投，都是在自欺欺人。
Burnham’s support for electoral reform is seemingly genuine. At last year’s Labour Party conference he told a rally: “There is nothing more unstoppable than an idea whose time has come — and PR’s time has come.” Last week, he confirmed that he was “committed to proportional representation”, being unable to see how “first past the post and the point-scoring inherent within it lifts Britain out of the doom loop it is in”.
伯纳姆对选举改革的支持似乎是真诚的。在去年的工党大会上，他曾在一个集会上表示：“没有什么比一个时机成熟的理念更加势不可挡——比例代表制的时机已经成熟。”上周，他确认他将“致力于推动比例代表制”，称其无法理解“简单多数制及其必然带来的政治作秀如何能将英国从目前的厄运循环中解救出来”。