Whoever wins today’s elections, democracy is the loser under first past the post | Polly Toynbee

This outdated system is destroying trust in politics. But there’s still time for Labour to follow Wales and Scotland’s example and introduce PR in the UK

Before a vote is counted, this much we know. More results than ever will involve the winning party getting a disproportionate amount of power, considering the number of votes cast for it; fewer people will get what they voted for. The ever more random roulette wheel of our voting system will produce wildly odd winners and losers.

Our never-fit-for-purpose first-past-the-post system breaks apart under the strain of having five or sometimes six parties bunched together with no more than 11 percentage points between them in the polls.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist