London - A commission on Britain's voting system has pro posed sweeping changes which could make coalition government more likely and would give smaller parties greater representation. The commission, chaired by Lord Jenkins, estimated its proposed system would have given Labour a 77-seat majority at last year's election rather than the 179 majority it actually won.
Mr Blair has promised a referendum to let voters choose between Lord Jenkins's idea and the current first past the post sys tem, unique in Europe, to elect the House of Commons. Under the Jenkins system, between 80 per cent and 85 per cent of the 659 MPs in the House of Commons would still be elected in single-member seats, but if no candidate won at least 50 per cent of the vote, second preferences of those supporting the least popular candidates would be taken into account.