The South West’s Green MEP is marking the 100-year anniversary of women winning the right to vote by ‘fasting for democracy’.

Molly Scott Cato joins other MEPs, MPs and leading political figures to demand reforms to our voting system.

She said: ‘Women didn’t win the vote easily: they had to fight for it.

‘I am honoured to fast for 24 hours to recall the extraordinary sacrifices brave women made 100 years ago but also as a way to spotlight the need to reform our electoral system so that every vote counts – for both women and men.

‘We need to take the next essential step to improve our democracy by introducing proportional representation so that the way we vote is reflected in the way power is shared in the House of Commons.

‘In Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire there are only Conservative MPs, although only around half the people who live there vote Conservative.

‘I have voted Green all my adult life but have never had anybody to represent me at Westminster.

‘In 2015 the Greens, Lib Dems and UKIP between them got over 24% of the vote but won just 1.5% of the seats.

‘I think people are all too aware that our democracy is failing us. The gap between politicians and the people they represent seems to have grown ever wider. A fair voting system will help revitalise our democracy and make sure that MPs really represent the people who vote for them.’