§ Mr. Humfrey Malins (Croydon, North-West)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a petition about proportional representation drawn from the four Croydon constituencies, one of which I have the honour to represent. I present it today on behalf of all four Members of Parliament for Croydon.
The petition says:
Wherefore your petitioners pray that Parliament should prepare a Bill for future elections to be held by proportional representation and should hold a referendum to give the people a choice between this Reform Bill and the preservation of the present system.To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Ian Wrigglesworth (Stockton, South)I seek your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, to present a similar petition:
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The humble Petition of the registered electors in the Borough of Stockton on Tees.Sheweth that they believe that the present system of elections to the House of Commons is unjust and unrepresentative.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that Parliament should prepare a Bill for future elections to be held by proportional representation and should hold a referendum to give the people a choice between this Reform Bill and the preservation of the present system.That petition has been presented to me by Mr. Ken Peace of 1, Hillcrest avenue, Fairfield, Stockton, in my constituency. He is the organiser of the Fair Votes Campaign in the Stockton and Teesside area and he has collected the signatures which I am presenting to the House today.I strongly support the petition because the last election showed that there is gross under-representation in the House of large sections of opinion, and, as was even more strongly demonstrated in the European elections, the system of voting in Britain today leads to vast numbers of people and vast areas of opinion not being represented at all.
It gives me great pleasure, therefore, to present the petition to the House his morning.
§ To lie upon the Table.