There's another job to do, beyond building cosmolocal CANs - and that's fixing our utterly broken electoral system. That's what #WinAsOne aims to do

Part of our political background is a connection with the Compass Network - a pluralist space that tries to bring “progressive” parties together in electoral alliances at constituency levels. This is in order that voters who comprise a progressive majority can coalesce around a candidate that has a chance of winning against the Conservative (or Reform Party) candidate.

The recognition is that our primitive First Past The Post voting system doesn’t allow these majorities to properly manifest themselves in seats. For example, the SNP possess 50-odd seats in Westminster, and the Greens have one, yet there is a comparable vote count for each. So local alliances have to be made, so that candidates can be elected on a commitment to replace this with a proportionally representative system - PR - as operates in Scotland and Wales.

However, the Labour Party is still refusing to consider a shift to PR after the next election (presuming - a big presumption - their current massive lead in the polls translates to votes). The temptation for Labour to execute policy from a position of “parliamentary dictatorship” of the House of Commons, as Lord Hailsham put it, is still too great.

So in the interests of covering all the bases - as we prefer to put out shoulder to different wheels - we thoroughly support Compass’s new campaign around this challenge, Win As One. Their “about” page explains themselves well, and makes many points of contact with the Alternative agenda:

We live in an age of permanent crisis and rupture. Our political and economic systems are failing to deliver on their promise of stability and decent living standards. Between economic collapses, pandemics, unravelling geo-politics, impending climate breakdown, proliferation of exploitative technology, polarisation, and people struggling to afford even the basics, it’s clear politics is failing most of us. Sometimes it feels like we lurch from one crisis to the next, surviving rather than thriving.

But there are immense reasons for hope. A new explosion of grassroots and community action is taking root. New ideas and big thinkers are imagining a different future. There’s a clear appetite for change.

We can see it close to home with Brexit, the demand for Scottish independence, Flatpack Democracy and Independents taking over their town councils and local alliances from Surrey to Sheffield, which are answering the call for greater participation. We see it in the rise of social movements like Black Lives Matter, Me Too and the school strikes for the climate.

And we see sparks of it around the world: from the first three-party national government in Germany, to Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand choosing to work with the Greens in government. From Joe Biden’s pacts with Bernie Sanders in 2020 to the remarkable breakthrough of the Australian Teals in ‘safe’ seats. From Finland’s female-led coalition to the progressive alliance that swept Lula to power in Brazil. This is the age of alliances.

The challenge and the opportunity is the same – to change the government and the system.

First Past the Post centralises power and locks in the influence of the rich and powerful. It shuts out the voices of most people, amplifying the power of a tiny number of swing voters in a few swing seats. It encourages short-term, tribal thinking that stifles the big, bold, change our country needs.

Only by changing our political system can we really change the country – whether to end poverty, build a new economy, fight for climate justice and human rights, rebuild public services, create meaningful jobs or stronger working rights.

Unless we work together we will lose again and things will get even worse. We can’t let that happen.

There is a progressive majority in our country, but because we are divided we keep losing. We can’t carry on doing the same thing and expecting a different result. That hands power to the Tories and keeps us locked in the same old cycles.

At the last election there were 62 progressive tragedy seats where the Tories won, despite their vote being smaller than the number of people who voted for progressive parties. Progressive wins in these seats would have wiped out the Tories’ entire majority.

But how do we win? Before, during and after the next election we need to:

• Build trusted cross-party relations in target seats to reduce progressive competition, so we don’t divide the vote

• Channel funding and support to candidates who back real political reform, beginning with proportional representation

• Create a movement of campaigners and activists on the ground in these key seats

• Maximise the number of votes going to progressive candidates who can win and who want to change the system

• This is what #WinAsOne is about. A national movement of hundreds of thousands of changemakers, just like you, committed and willing to use their votes, activism, time, money and energy to elect the best-placed progressive candidates who support the need for change.

• Help us build the foundations of a progressive pitch invasion on a scale never seen before in British politics.

Just imagine voters from all progressive parties and none in every key seat organising, campaigning and winning together at the next election, rather than losing apart. 

We already have local groups across the country from Surrey to Sheffield, from Newcastle to North Yorkshire, working hard to bring activists together and securing wins.

We’re saying to candidates: we will vote for you, we will donate to your campaign and we will be on the streets for you if you commit to real political change starting with proportional representation.

That’s our plan. This is our chance. Together, we can make it a reality. If we invest our time, energy and money now we can turn the progressive majority in the country into a progressive majority in Parliament at the next general election. 

More here. If you want to be involved with Win As One, their website offers an easy way to input your postcode and find others who want to be involved too. Try their Seat Finder (the “progressive tragedy” filter is fascinating). Their “news” pages are full of research and updates.