What has Andy Burnham said about the voting system?Westminster has, once again, been engulfed in high theatre. The Prime Minister stood aside on Monday announcing a two-week departure timetable. Hours later, Andy Burnham hopped on the train to take his Commons seat and...Posted 25 Jun 2026
What is the Supplementary Vote, and why is it being used in Manchester?On Thursday 30 July, Greater Manchester will be electing a new mayor. The by-election follows Andy Burnham’s decision to return to Westminster, but it’s not just the mayor who will be changing. The way the...Posted 24 Jun 2026
Keir Starmer’s resignation is the latest product of the chaos of First Past the PostToday Keir Starmer announced he will be resigning as Prime Minister. It is hard to overstate how remarkable that is. His government won 63% of all MPs on just 34% of the vote in 2024,...Posted 22 Jun 2026
The difference between proportional and preferential voting systems – and why it mattersWhen is an electoral reform not proportional? That question matters because support for scrapping First Past the Post is growing, yet not every alternative would solve Westminster’s central democratic problem: Parliaments that don’t reflect how...Posted 11 Jun 2026
Two individuals account for a third of all political donations in latest releaseThis week the Electoral Commission released data on political donations received in the first quarter of 2026, revealing exactly why we need a full donations cap. Of the £20.8 million of private donations received in the first three months of this year, £7...Posted 04 Jun 2026
A council with no overall control isn’t the same as one with proportional representationMay’s English local elections ended one-party dominance in over 30 councils, with 64 of the 136 councils now under no overall control. But a council under no overall control elected by First Past the Post,...Posted 03 Jun 2026
Frontrunners declaring for proportional representation crystallises the growing support in the Labour PartyWe have seen a number of events in recent days that have crystallised the long build-up of momentum in the Labour Party for proportional representation. Firstly, over the weekend, Andy Burnham, who, if he wins...Posted 03 Jun 2026
What can we learn from 2026’s English local electionsThis week we’ve been delving into the English local election results to understand what’s happening behind the headlines, and the picture that is emerging is a mixed one. Whilst the general talk is about winners...Posted 14 May 2026
What we learnt from Scotland’s 2026 electionsCoverage of elections down in England can often give the impression that results which are wildly different from the way people vote is just a fact of nature, or at most a strange quirk of...Posted 14 May 2026
How Wales voted in the 2026 Senedd electionOn Thursday 7th May, Wales headed to the polls for the Senedd election. This was an election that delivered seismic change for Wales; seeing Welsh Labour lose their position as the largest party in the...Posted 13 May 2026