Campaigners in North Yorkshire are calling for a change to the voting system ahead of a shake-up of local government.

Make Votes Matter, a national pressure group that campaigns to abolish first-past-the-post voting, said the forthcoming overhaul of councils would be an “ideal opportunity” to alter the system.

The Government is currently consulting on the biggest change to local councils in the county since 1974.

It has proposals to scrap North Yorkshire County Council and the seven districts and replace them with either one or two new councils.

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Louise Mauborgne, spokesperson for the North Yorkshire group of Make Votes Matter, said the current voting system was unfair.

She added that elections for the new county authorities would be better with proportional representation or single transferable vote.

Ms Mauborgne said:

“First past the post means huge numbers of votes don’t count. Forty three per cent voted Conservative in 2019; what happened to the rest of the votes? Nothing.

“The unfair voting system means often people do not bother to vote because they think their vote will not mean anything.

“It can also lead to a lack of trust in authority and disengagement with national or local government. Votes are cast in protest or tactically rather than honestly for policies they really want.”

Voters could be heading to the ballot box as early as May 2023, under the new local government make-up in the county.

The government’s consultation on the reorganisation closes on Monday April 19. You can have your say here.