Tom Brake
Director of Unlock Democracy since 2020 and former Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington.
Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake greeted Andy Burnham's 29 September 2026 pledge of a new Westminster voting system by arguing that First past the post "bakes in volatility".
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why does Unlock Democracy say first past the post bakes in volatility?
Timeline for Tom Brake
Burnham pledges to change voting system
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Tom Brake has directed Unlock Democracy, a campaign group for a written constitution and fair elections, since October 2020.
He was the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington from 1997 to 2019. During the Coalition government he served as deputy leader of The House of Commons from 2012 to 2015. He later became the party's chief whip and its Brexit spokesperson, and lost his seat to the Conservatives at the 2019 general election.
At Unlock Democracy he leads the case for replacing First past the post at Westminster, most recently in response to Labour's September 2026 pledge on electoral reform.
Brake presses the case against plurality voting
Burnham's conference speech on 29 September 2026 gave Brake's campaign its biggest opening in years: a governing party promising to change how MPs are elected, plus a National Commission on Electoral Reform open to all parties. Brake's verdict on the current system was blunt, saying it "bakes in volatility".
The argument fits a career-long cause. Brake spent 22 years as a Liberal Democrat MP, in a party that has long backed proportional representation. The hurdles remain: Burnham has named no alternative, the Commission has no chair, and Kemi Badenoch rejected the plan on 2 October, so Reform still lacks the cross-party support campaigners want.
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