IN LESS than four weeks’ time, we will be heading to the polls to vote in a General Election. It's an important one, as the party in power will determine our country's future - with or without the EU.

But as a voter in Basingstoke, I face having no influence to the overall result, and I find that incredibly frustrating.

The constituency of Basingstoke is what's considered a 'safe seat' for the Conservative party, meaning the current MP Maria Miller will almost certainly be elected.

With the exception of 1923 to 1924 when Basingstoke voted in a Liberal Party MP, the borough has elected Conservative MPs since 1885.

Therefore, the chance of any other party being victorious is slim to none.

While I appreciate that this is how voting works - those with the most win and the rest lose - our current voting system is not representative of a true democratic society.

At the last General Election in 2017, 81,875 people were eligible to vote in Basingstoke.

Maria Miller was elected with 29,510 votes, with Labour receiving 20,044, Liberal Democrats receiving 3,406, UKIP receiving 1,681 and the Green party gaining 1,106.

As a result, the Conservatives gained a seat in parliament, helping secure their overall victory.

However, with the First Past the Post system, votes are not equal. The Conservatives won a seat in Basingstoke with 29,510 votes.

More than 500,000 people voted for the Green Party overall, but this secured them just one seat.

More than 600,000 votes were given to UKIP, but they aren’t represented in parliament at all.

In 2017, the Green Party, Liberal Democrats and UKIP received 11 per cent of the votes between them, yet they shared just two per cent of the seats.

The 2015 General Election was even worse. The same three parties received almost a quarter of all the votes cast, yet these parties shared just 1.5 per cent of seats.

Parliament therefore doesn’t reflect the way we vote, and denies millions of people, including Basingstoke constituents, representation and a chance to have their say on who runs our country.

Women fought to get the vote, but still more than half the population is disenfranchised by our electoral system.

Only those living in areas with marginal seats with a small majority can make a difference.

Almost always, the party in power doesn’t have 50 per cent of the voters behind it.

With Proportional Representation, parties receive seats based on the share of votes they receive. If a party gets 20 per cent of the vote, they win 20 per cent of the seats in parliament, meaning our government would accurately represent the people and how they voted. All of our votes would count.

The problem is, that those in power don't want to change the voting system because it has clearly worked in their favour as it is.

Those who do want to change it are the parties set to benefit and gain more seats through Proportional Representation, but they will never be able to because they don't have the power to do so.

The Liberal Democrats had an opportunity when they formed a coalition government with the Conservatives when David Cameron and Nick Clegg joined forces, but that chance was wasted.

The current system leaves voters in Basingstoke who don't want to see the Conservatives in power having to decide whether to give their vote to the party that has the most potential to challenge the opposition, or to the party they really want to win, whilst knowing that either option is still highly unlikely to make any difference, the latter considerably less so.

It's no wonder so many people don't bother to vote at all.

In the General Election in 2017, 26,609 eligible voters didn’t vote in Basingstoke.

We don't know who they would choose if they did. Maybe some Tory supporters don’t turn out because they think it’s already a guaranteed win. Those supporting other parties might think their vote won’t be enough to overturn the status quo. However, collectively, the number of non-voters could make a huge difference.

So, whilst heading to the polls on December 12 in Basingstoke might seem like a waste of time, the only way we will ever see a change to the system and ensure all our voices are heard, is to turn out and put a cross on the ballot paper. We have to hope that the party in power sees sense that Proportional Representation is the only way of ensuring our country is truly democratic.

n WHAT do you think? At the Gazette, we welcome all views on this argument. To respond to Emily's piece, email newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk