I like having a local MP and knowing who he/she is. That will pretty much end if we go to PR.

If we still have constituencies then the one with most votes will still be a local MP, just not THE local MP. We'll have others who the majority of voters didn't choose but who are given seats to give the impression that the minority have a voice. The smaller minorities will still feel they do not have a voice because only the candidates who came in second or third, maybe even fourth, will be acknowledged. Those further down the list still won't be considered worthy.

If we lose constituencies and vote as a nation, with MPs being selected depending on how well their party did nationally, then we will not have local MPs. The gap between MPs and voters will widen. If we are appointed a local MP, then who will decide which MP represents which region?

If we keep the current constituencies but introduce PR then we will create more MPs than we currently have. Parliament will be overflowing.

Our system has served us well for generations. If any changes are needed then it is more to do with redrawing the constituency map so that each one has roughly the same number of voters. That way, even under the current system, the party with the most votes will be the party with the most MPs. It is much easier to reshuffle constituencies than to completely reform the electoral system.

You'd be doing little more than exchanging one set of problems for another set of problems. That's it. One can go round and round and round arguing about the pros and cons of each one, but that's always the conclusion if you look at it soberly. (Oh, okay: IMHO! ) As to which 'least worst' system one should choose, I'd go with Burke and Bagehot here: the one that has evolved here. It's no good switching from a flawed system that people understand to a flawed system that few understand. Granted, PR and some of its variants does have the potential to reward more sophisticated political actors, but then so does democracy per se - you're back with the problem of investing sufficiently in education and information to cultivate the content to suit the form. People are obsessing over the wrong questions.

JC wrote:
I like having a local MP and knowing who he/she is. That will pretty much end if we go to PR.

What percentage of voters could even name their local MP ?
Isn't it a fact that the vast majority vote on national issues - and for a national party ?