Reform UK enjoyed major success in the 2024 general election, and have been on the rise ever since. The only thing holding them back is the UK’s First Past the Post electoral system. Many in the political system have been advocating for the UK to switch from its First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system to a proportional representation (PR) system. This stems from arguments that it is more democratic, due it being debatably more representative, decreasing wasted votes, and giving minority parties a better chance of winning seats in parliament. 

One party that would considerably benefit from a switch to a PR system would be the rising Reform UK, who earnt 14% of the votes in the 2024 UK general election, gaining 5 MPs. However, the Electoral Reform Society projected that under a PR system (in this case AMS), Reform would’ve ended up with 100 MPs in the 2024 UK general election, considerably better than the 5 they gained under the FPTP system. Furthermore, these projected seats would be even higher if there was an election now, as their support has largely grown since, with recent YouGov polls placing Reform UK on 25% support, overtaking Labour and the Conservatives. Considering the danger of Reform UK’s far-right views, the UK should maintain the arguably less democratic First Past the Post electoral system, to prevent the hateful party from gaining further power in Parliament, which they would receive under a PR system. 

Reform UK have frequently demonstrated themselves to be a dangerous, hateful party through their far-right policies, their leader Farage, and through their controversial, extremist candidates. Their 2024 election manifesto laid out their dangerous policies, which threaten human rights and aim to reverse progress, demonstrated by their desire to ‘scrap net zero’, ‘change the definition of hate crime’, and ‘replace the 2010 Equalities Act”. Furthermore, their leader Farage has a history of racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia, and has frequently failed to respect democratic process, disputing defeats in Oldham in 2015,

Peterborough in 2019, and Rochdale in 2024. Additionally, their chosen candidates have been riddled with controversy, largely due to their online efforts to spread extremist views, such as Mick Greenhough’s tweet that ‘Ashkensazi Jews have caused the world massive problems’; this demonstrates clear prejudice. Attempts by these promoters of hateful views to gain a public platform threaten to create a further fractured society. Therefore, the dangers of the far-right, extremist party, Reform UK gaining further Parliamentary presence, outweigh the democratic benefits of the PR system, resulting in a need to maintain the current FPTP system. Recent times have demonstrated the world to be a considerably more dangerous, unstable place, illustrated through the rise of the far-right and conflict on a global scale, and the instability that Trump’s re-election brings. Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia all have far-right governments, with this growth of the far-right being most recently emphasised by the 2025 German election, where AFD received 152 seats. Furthermore, the re-election of Trump has led to increasing tensions between the US and Europe, further contributing to global instability. Consequently, considering the international sociopolitical context, Reform UK gaining greater control in Parliament would be too dangerous. Therefore, despite its democratic flaws, the UK should maintain the FPTP electoral system, to prevent the extremist Reform UK obtaining further power.