Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has challenged Reform UK’s Richard Tice over his stance on electoral reform, pointing to previous public statements where the Reform Deputy Leader supported proportional representation (PR).
The challenge follows an appearance by Mr Tice on GB News this morning, during which he characterised recent demands for a new voting system as “carnage” and “chaos.” Mr Gordon argues these comments represent a departure from October 2023, when Tice stated Reform UK was “very pro-proportional representation” and described PR as “the fairest way to conduct elections.”
The two politicians previously discussed the issue together during a joint appearance on ITV’s regional political programme Last Orders shortly after the 2024 General Election, where both highlighted shared concerns regarding the current Westminster voting system.
Tom Gordon MP said:
Around two years ago, I found the unthinkable happening – I agreed with Richard Tice live on TV! Yet since then, Richard seems to have changed his tune when it comes to proportional representation.
If we want a fairer society, that starts with a fairer voting system, so everyone’s vote counts.
My values and principles haven’t changed. Why have Reform’s?
Richard Tice Issues Direct Response
Responding directly to the challenge, Richard Tice MP, Deputy Leader of Reform UK, dismissed the criticism, arguing that the immediate focus must remain on systemic ballot security and national economic pressures rather than constitutional debates.
Mr Tice told the Harrogate Informer:**
Let’s be completely clear: Reform UK has not changed its tune on fairness, but we deal in common-sense priorities. Tom Gordon and the Liberal Democrats can sit around talking about a self-serving Labour Commission on proportional representation, but this country is facing an economic crisis, soaring energy bills, and the very real threat of blackouts—that is what matters to hard-working families right now.
If Tom Gordon wants to talk about genuine democratic reform, then the absolute first priority must be fixing our broken, fraud-ridden system. We need urgent postal voting reform and an immediate crackdown on the practice of family voting to protect the integrity of our ballot boxes. Proportional representation remains an important discussion for further down the track, but our immediate focus is on delivering a proper Reform majority that tackles the structural crises currently bankrupting Britain.
The Harrogate Informer will continue to track this evolving political row as the national debate over Westminster’s voting framework intensifies. Leave your thoughts on proportional representation in the comment section below.