Jeremy Miles for Beaconsfield

I have had a long standing belief in reforming politics in the UK.

One of my first jobs was teaching constitutional law at Warsaw University in Poland and I still remember trying to explain to students why the UK, which prides itself on a long democratic tradition, had an unelected second chamber, no written constitution and a voting system where the relationship between votes cast at an election and seats won in Parliament was often very distorted.

Labour has given away more power than any government in living memory, to the regions, to our capital London, even to the Bank of England  – and we have long had an ambition to reform the House of Lords and our voting system.

Voters have generally not been very much interested in the workings of our constitution, but I believe strongly that the public mood now towards politics in the UK gives us an opportunity now to tackle the remaining outdated parts of our political system with a new urgency.

So, let’s introduce a fairer voting system. We should not get hung-up on the detail of different voting systems but we do need to win the argument that votes cast should be fairly reflected in the seats a party has in Westminster.  We have a proud history of being able to adapt our political arrangements and we will manage this again with a new fairer voting system – but what is clear is that unless voters feel that there is a stronger connection between the way they cast their vote and the way that the UK is governed, we will continue to see a decline in voters’ turnout and faith in politics.

And let’s start work on a written constitution so we can debate and decide which parts of our constitution are fit for purpose and which are not – fundamental rules about how our political system works should not depend on interpreting vague historical traditions. We should have clear laws and rules – discussed, agreed and applied.

And let’s elect the second chamber in Parliament too – people worry that we will lose the expertise and experience of the Lords and yes, we do need expertise and experience to create our laws but it is the job of experts to advise, not decide.  No one should have a vote on our laws, who has not been chosen by voters in a democratic election.

This is why I have signed the Power 2010 pledge. This is a list of 5 demands for change in our political system. They followed a UK-wide consultation on what steps we need to take to renew our politics. You may not agree with them all, but if like me you agree with most of them, then I would encourage you too to sign the pledge.