British MP could force by-election over PR

From the Telegraph:

Alan Johnson, Labour's "lost leader", is considering standing down from his Westminster seat and fighting a by-election on the issue of proportional representation, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The shadow home secretary's dramatic gesture would mirror the controversial stand taken by a Tory occupant of the post, David Davis, in 2008.

Mr Davis quit the shadow cabinet and announced he would fight a by-election in his parliamentary seat of Haltemprice and Howden on a civil liberties platform.

He easily won the subsequent contest but has never returned to the political front line.

Mr Johnson, who was the favoured candidate of many Labour MPs to replace Gordon Brown as prime minister, has always been a passionate advocate of electoral reform.

If he fought, and won, a by-election on the issue in his seat of Hull West and Hessle – next door to Mr Davis's seat – it would put him in prime position to play a leading role in a referendum campaign to change the way all MPs are elected.

Under coalition plans, a referendum on replacing the current "first past the post" regime with the Alternative Vote system, which allows voting for more than one candidate, could be held as early as next year.

Mr Johnson is almost certain to join the exodus of senior Labour figures from the shadow cabinet after the party elects its new leader in September from its field of runners: David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott.

Those who have already said they will not put themselves forward for Labour's new top team in the autumn include Alistair Darling, Jack Straw, Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis.

Mr Johnson said in a recent interview with his local newspaper, the Hull Daily Mail: "I may not put myself forward for the shadow cabinet elections and am thinking about going on to the back benches.

"I might be able to do something from the sidelines on the Proportional Representation issue. I think this is a real time of progress on that."

Sources close to Mr Johnson said a "dramatic statement" on electoral reform remained a "real possibility" for the former home secretary.

Mr Johnson, 60, a former postman who was brought up by his older sister in a council flat after he was orphaned at the age of 12, had a rapid rise after being elected to parliament in Labour's landslide election win in 1997.

He joined the cabinet in 2004 and in 2007 was only narrowly defeated by Harriet Harman for Labour's deputy leadership when Mr Brown took over from Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.

The following two years saw him viewed with much suspicion by the former prime minister's inner circle – key members of which suspected him of plotting to unseat Mr Brown.

However, he steadfastly denied he was interested in the top job, and on more than one occasion stated he did not feel he was up to it.

Despite this lack of ambition, several Labour MPs thought his easy going manner would make him a more popular leader than Mr Brown, particularly in marginal seats in the south of England, and would give the party a better chance of retaining power in this year's election.

Several urged him to oppose Mr Brown – particularly when his premiership came closest to toppling after James Purnell resigned from the cabinet last summer.

In the subsequent reshuffle, though, Mr Johnson accepted a promotion from health secretary to home secretary.

He now appears to have ruled out suggestions he was planning to run for London Mayor against his Conservative namesake, Boris Johnson, in 2012.

He was quick also to rule himself out of succeeding Mr Brown as Labour leader this year – and gave his backing to David Miliband, the former foreign secretary.

Labour MPs are likely to see any attempt by the former home secretary to force a by-election on electoral reform as highly risky and eccentric.

One said last night: "It's hard to see that Alan would do something like that, it sounds barking. David Davis did it and put a giant dent in his career.

"Having said that, Alan is absolutely 100 per cent committed to voting reform and I suppose he might just be tempted into a grand gesture."