The House of Commons backed using proportional representation (PR) at general elections in a surprise symbolic vote on Tuesday.
Almost 60 Labour MPs supported a plan put forward by Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat frontbencher, to reform how the voting system works.
The vote on Ms Olney’s Bill was not binding and will do nothing to change the electoral system unless the Government decides to support the proposals.
But it shows the strength of feeling among many of Sir Keir Starmer’s backbenchers and reinforces long-standing divisions in Labour on the issue.
British elections use the first past the post system across 650 constituencies. Voters back a single candidate and each seat is won by the party with the most votes.
The system heavily favours larger parties to the detriment of smaller ones. At the general election in July, Labour won 63 per cent of seats with just under 34 per cent of the vote.
Reform UK picked up five seats despite winning more than four million votes, while the Liberal Democrats won 72 seats with just over 3.5 million votes.
Under a PR system, the distribution of seats nationwide corresponds much more closely with the proportion of votes cast for each party.
Labour backbenchers who supported a switch to PR include Stella Creasy, who served as a minister under Ed Miliband. Alex Sobel and Clive Lewis, who have campaigned heavily on the issue, were also in favour.
The Government frontbench, which includes all ministers, whips and parliamentary private secretaries, were instructed to abstain on the vote. Labour backbenchers were given a free vote by the whips.
The vote means the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill introduced by Ms Olney could have a second reading on any Friday when MPs are sitting.
However, this is unlikely because the private members’ Bills that were selected in a ballot at the start of each session have a higher chance of being debated in the Commons.
This year, these include Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying Bill, which passed its second reading last week as MPs in principle agreed to legalise the practice for terminally ill adults.
The next steps of the Elections Bill could also be voted on by the Commons if it was put forward by the Liberal Democrats on one of their designated Opposition Days.
If the Labour Government wanted to, it could also make legislative time for the Bill in order to ensure a vote on it.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “MPs have voted for Sarah Olney’s Bill to introduce proportional representation.
“This is a crucial step towards fixing our broken electoral system and ensuring every vote counts.”
Sir Keir ruled out supporting electoral reform in Labour’s general election manifesto despite the party’s annual conference voting to support electoral reform in 2022.
He is also unlikely to change his mind on the issue after the current first past the post system gave Labour a far greater share of seats in the Commons than its share of the popular vote.
In an interview with ITV News after his landslide victory, Sir Keir said first past the post was the “right system”.
He said: “It has given a strong government in this country, and we are not making any changes to it.”
Last month, a new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections was launched by Mr Sobel, the Labour MP for Leeds Central and Headingley.
He railed against the “most disproportionate result in British history” and urged the Government to launch a national commission for electoral reform.
Changing the voting system is backed by the Liberal Democrats, Reform and the Greens, all of whom would likely have fared better in July under a more representative system.
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