THE BISHOP of Blackburn has joined the debate on the future of politics by calling for a rethink of the voting system.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Reade told Lancashire’s church leaders a change in the way MPs are elected should be “openly discussed” in order to solve the “constitutional crisis”.

The government has intro-duced a package of reforms following the MPs’ expenses scandal, and a new Speaker of the House of Commons took office this week.

But there have also been calls to scrap the current “first past the post” system of voting, which leads to so-called “safe seats” with large majorities in some parts of the country.

The Bishop was speaking at the Diocesan Synod of the Blackburn Diocese in Prest-on last night.

He said election to the Church of England’s central bodies was done using the ‘single transferable vote’ system, whereby voters list their favourite candidates in order in an attempt to avoid wasted votes.

He said: “I personally now believe the time has come when we should, at the very least, look seriously at our voting system.

“While I understand all the arguments for retaining the first past the post system, I see the strength of the argument for a change, and my hope is that a change in the voting system should be openly discussed.”

Bishop Nicholas also said he was “dismayed” by the election earlier this month of two British National Party candidates to the European Parliament, including party leader Nick Griffin to represent the North West.