A better way to elect MPs: Proportional Division Representation

I may have stumbled on a better way to elect MPs: Read it below...  But first let me give you some background.

The UK still uses the archaic "first past the post" voting system. 

This needs to change.  

Back in 2011 there was a referendum on changing this to the Alternative Vote.  We were already living in Spain then, but I followed it closely - the campaigns and the themes.

At the end of the day people said.... "It's all too complicated... we stick with the status quo".

What a shame.  

Fast forward to 2019 and Boris was able to lie through his teeth campaign with a clear message and get a thumping 80 seat majority - by getting a few more racist old people in the North to vote for him than would normally do.

Ultimately there was a majority of vote for Remain-parties but the way the cookie crumbled down the constituency-lines meant Boris and his team of ultra-right wingers got in.

What can be done about this?

I been looking at all the plethora of different voting system.  Boy are they complicated!!   I'm a programmer used to reading detailed manuals; reading the Wiki-page makes my eyes glaze over.

So I propose a simple new system:  Proportional Division Representation (PDR)

- In this system I am proposing there is still only one constituency MP.  This avoids the major problem of losing the link between the constituent and MP.  If you have a problem in your town - you know who to call.  It is still a first-past-the-post system... but don't stop reading there...!!

- So you still get 650 MPs elected.

- But with PDR when MPs vote in divisions in Parliament their votes there are weighted "scored" (or "vote power")  according to the total votes that their party received across the whole country at the last election (and recalculated after all subsequent by-elections).    Easier to understand how simple it is with examples:

In the the 2019 election the Green Party won only one single seat - the Brighton constituency won again by Caroline Lucas, but the Greens polled 2.7% of the vote nationally.

Under my PDR plan when Caroline votes in the Houses of Parliament her divisional vote carries 2.7% of 650, that is - a "score" or "vote power" of 17.55

A Labour MP after the 2019 election would have a "score" or "vote power" calculated like this:

32.2% (of national vote) of 650 = 209.3 (score for the whole of the Labour party) divided by the number of MPs they had which was 202.   209.3/202 =  1.04  -  "score" or "vote power"  

Therefore every time a Labour MP voted they would contribute a score of 1.04 to the total division vote for or against the motion.

Considering the Conservatives..  They won 365 seats out of the 650, but only 43.6% of the popular vote across the country.  43.6% of 650 is  283.4         To determine the "score" or "vote power" for each Tory MP's vote it is 283.4/365 = 0.764  for each member when they vote.

When voting on legislation all the Ayes and Noes would be totted up, adding the "score"/ "vote power" of each member who voted, and the highest total wins.

As you can see the single vote from the Caroline Lucas and the Green party would have a lot more "vote power" in any vote in the House of Commons - to reflect the large number of people across the nation that have similar views.

Conservative MPs would have work harder together to get their legislation across - simply reflecting the fact that whilst PDR is still a the first-past-the-post system that enabled them to take their seats, all the votes previously "lost" in those constituencies are energising the votes of the remaining opposition MPs.

Every single vote across the country at the General Election would make a difference - even in "safe seats" where lots of people don't bother to vote because they know it would make no difference. No need to tactical vote in swing seats.

It might change voting habits; people often only vote for someone they think might win, or against someone they dislike rather than for the actual person they'd prefer.

It would be a lot easier to convince people to move to the new system, as what people have to do doesn't change - they still just vote for the person they want to be their local MP.

What's not to like?