First past the post and excessive use of prison

I am about to change my mind. For years I have been a supporter of first past the post voting systems, mainly because of the constituency link. But the evidence, particularly from my professional life, is pushing me toward the conclusion that that very pillar of our democratic system is contributing towards an excessive use of prison. Also, it clogs up the political system with social work issues.

I have to declare an interest straight away. I was an elected councillor for eight years and every week the three of us took it in turns to hold an advice surgery. I was told at the time that we three had the highest majority of any councillors, of any party, in London, as it was something over 3,000 votes. So I do know a bit about elected politics and local democracy.

One of the problems has been this very close link to local people. Almost all MPs and councillors will hold regular advice surgeries, but no one claims that the people who come for help are in any way representative of the local community. Older people are disproportionately involved, whereas children never come to ask for help or to complain. So it is that children are identified as the problem when there is anti-social behaviour. As politicians pay huge attention and give importance to their surgery caseload, the relentless complaining about children and young people has a toxic effect on attitudes and hence on policy.

Crime and anti-social behaviour is one of the issues most complained about, particularly in areas with poverty and social housing. This weights the issue on the political agenda. I cannot think of a single person who came to my surgery to complain about big corporate corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. People complain about what they can see and understand. The idea that corporate corruption and white collar crime might be far more corrosive on the fabric of society that a few kids kicking a ball against their wall is too far away.

Since 1997 when an additional hundred or so Labour MPs were elected who clearly were not going to be ministers, they worked assiduously in their constituencies, holding regular surgeries and listening to hundreds of (older) people complaining about relatively trivial events.

The response has been ever more punitive legislation particularly focussed on young people and a dramatically rising prison population. I am not saying that this is the only reason for the political obsession with low level crime and the use of prison, but it has certainly contributed.

My second reason for a possible support for proportional representation were some visits I made recently to countries that have low prison populations. It was pointed out by Tapio Lappi-Seppälä from Finland, that countries that have political systems based on conflict with the two party system tend to have crime and justice as a hot topic that is exploited by parties, whereas countries that have a more consensual voting system do not. So, Italy, which has had right wing governments for decades has a relatively low prison population, as does Germany and Finland. But UK and USA use prison as a political weapon. There are other indicators, but this is one of the key determinants for prison populations.

So, when I read Polly Toynbee’s article in today’s Guardian, I could feel myself slipping onto the PR bandwagon after a lifetime of bingeing on first past the post.