NEWLY re-elected MP Caroline Lucas has called for an urgent debate on political reform.

She is urging “cross-party progressives” to work together until electoral pacts are formed after the “bleak blue wash” of Thursday’s election.

The comments were made as she spoke at the debate Election 2015: How was it for you? at the Brighton Festival on Saturday night in front of hundreds of people.

Ms Lucas said: “The election results have served as a stark reminder that our political system is broken.

“The time for electoral reform is long overdue.

“Only proportional representation will deliver a parliament that is truly legitimate, and that better reflects the views of the people it’s meant to represent.

“But we must move forward today. While the campaign for electoral reform gathers momentum, those of us wanting to see fairer, more compassionate and progressive politics must find new ways of working together and put that into practice now.

“Unless we break free of tribal politics and work together to fight austerity, we’re faced with an incredibly bleak political future.

“For the sake of all those who’ll suffer most at the hands of the Tories, we must rethink our relations and recognise the importance of our common ground.

“One of the first challenges such an alliance will face is ensuring we win the referendum on membership of the EU. “We cannot allow backward-looking Tories to make common cause with UKIP and lead us out of the EU and into the wilderness."

UKIP members at Saturday’s local election count also called for electoral reform after their party’s strong showing in the polls was rewarded with just one parliamentary seat.

Outgoing UKIP councillor Leigh Farrow, who lost his Moulsecoomb and Bevendean seat to his former party Labour, said: "We are the party that got 3.9 million votes nationally and got one member of parliament.”