A CHANGE in the electoral system has been backed by Green Party members of Oxfordshire County Council.

The leader of the Green group on the council, David Williams, said he supported his party’s decision to deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street on Monday.

The petition, which was handed in by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and deputy leader Amelia Womack, calls for the first past the post election system used for general elections to be changed.

First past the post is also used for council elections in England.

Mr Williams said: “A Conservative vote of less than 37 per cent of those voting in the General Election has given the Conservatives a majority in Parliament under our anachronistic first past the post electoral system.

“Such a minority vote means that the current government has no mandate for its policies, unlike the previous coalition, which was backed by a majority of those who voted in 2010.

“Sixty-three per cent of those who voted in 2015 did not vote Conservative.

“In Oxfordshire, 49 per cent of those who voted chose to vote Conservative, but less than half the vote provided the Conservatives with five out of six parliamentary seats in the county.”