If there is one rule in British politics, it is this: Labour politicians rarely look happy. The party has been around for 122 years, but it has spent only 33 of them in power.

But as it holds its annual conference, things are looking up. Labour recently soared to a 17-point lead in the opinion polls. The economy is in the gutter. The Conservatives are divided.

The party is buzzing with energy. This time, it might just win.

However, there is one policy Labour leader Keir Starmer would rather not hear about this conference. On Monday, party members voted to change the country's electoral system from First Past the PostA voting system in which the winner is simply whoever comes first in each area. As such, the winning party almost never has a majority of the vote, and sometimes might even win a smaller share of the vote than its opponent. (FPTP) to proportional representationA voting system in which the winning party gets a proportion of parliamentary seats equal to its proportion of the vote. (PR). Starmer is against the measure.

Backing PR seems like an obvious move for Labour. Right now, the Conservatives have an in-built advantage. Even if the two parties get the same share of the vote, the Conservatives will win more seats.

This is because parties do better under FPTP if their voters are distributed evenly across the country. Most of Labour's support, however, is concentrated in urban areas.

PR would also give smaller parties a greater voice. In the last election, the Liberal DemocratsAlso known as the Lib Dems, a liberal political party in the UK. won 11.6% of the vote, yet won only 11 seats - or 1.7% of the total.

The result of these anomaliesThings that go against what is normal or expected. is that voters often feel their vote does not count for very much. Many people feel there is little point in voting.

Under PR, each vote would be worth exactly the same. Many think it seems much more democratic.

But there are problems with PR as well. The first is that no one party would ever be able to govern by itself again. They would have to enter into coalitionsDifferent groups or parties working together to lead. with small parties.

Such coalitions are famously unstable. The government would change much more frequently.

Yes: FPTP allows the country to be governed by the will of a minority of its populace. It favours the Conservatives and silences smaller parties. It is undemocratic and unfair.

No: PR would deliver a series of unstable governments that would collapse before they had the chance to get anything done. There would be no more radical change.

Or... The reason Labour loses under FPTP is that its voters - younger, more educated - have to live in big cities if they want to get jobs. If we rebalanced the economy, there would be more Labour voters outside cities and votes would be fairer.

First Past the Post - A voting system in which the winner is simply whoever comes first in each area. As such, the winning party almost never has a majority of the vote, and sometimes might even win a smaller share of the vote than its opponent.

Proportional representation - A voting system in which the winning party gets a proportion of parliamentary seats equal to its proportion of the vote.

Liberal Democrats - Also known as the Lib Dems, a liberal political party in the UK.

Anomalies - Things that go against what is normal or expected.

Coalitions - Different groups or parties working together to lead.