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How Scotland’s Holyrood elections work will work this May

The 2024 General Election in Scotland was a one-sided affair. Scottish Labour won 35.3% of the vote in Scotland and 64.9% of the available seats. While the SNP came a narrow second place on 30%...

Posted 23 Apr 2026

Holyrood’s voting system wants you to be represented in Parliament

We should fix our voting system, not force people to use it

This week, the Telegraph has published an article debating the merits of compulsory voting. Partly inspired by the approaching first anniversary of the launch of the Campaign for Compulsory Voting, the Telegraph’s research shows that...

Posted 23 Apr 2026

Compulsory voting would treat the symptoms not the cause

Former Prime Minister John Major questions the ‘validity’ of First Past the Post

There has been a significant intervention in the debate around electoral reform recently, in the guise of former Prime Minister John Major. The Conservative politician has questioned the “validity” of the First Past the Post...

Posted 01 Apr 2026

The case for examining First Past the Posts role is growing

Government to cap overseas donations and stop crypto donations

Today we welcomed the review by Philip Rycroft into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The review rightly identifies a loss of trust in our democratic system and processes, and the importance...

Posted 25 Mar 2026

The government must go further and bring in a cap on how much all donors can give to a party

Scotland’s Parliament still has too much First Past the Post

When the Scottish Parliament was created, it was built to be different to Westminster. A system designed to reflect how all Scots voted, not just who comes first in each area. Scotland uses what is...

Posted 25 Mar 2026

We need to shift the balance closer to 50:50, to allow the ‘top-up’ to do its job.

We were asked to address MPs on the Representation of the People Bill committee

This week MPs sitting on the Representation of the People Bill committee took evidence before the bill starts committee stage – the line-by-line examination of the legislation. Expert witnesses are called to give evidence at...

Posted 19 Mar 2026

First Past the Post is increasingly failing to deliver for voters

Early voting trials offer a promising addition to our democracy

Written by Thomas Worth While the focus has been on the 30 councils who saw their elections delayed and then undelayed at short notice, it might be easy to miss some of the positive changes...

Posted 12 Mar 2026

This pilot will make voting more convenient and accessible

The end of the Hereditary Peerage: A long campaign and an important victory

We saw a big victory last night as the bill to remove the last hereditary peers from the House of Lords finally passed. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill means the remaining 84 hereditary...

Posted 11 Mar 2026

Hereditary peer ‘back door’ compromise risks undermining manifesto promise

It seems the legislative game of hide and seek around the bill to remove the hereditary peers from the Lords is over and it is now entering its endgame. We highlighted recently that things had...

Posted 09 Mar 2026

This is about who has right to shape our laws

The Representation of the People Bill moves democracy forward – but more progress is needed

At the Electoral Reform Society, we believe democracy is never a finished project. Something so hard won requires constant attention, updating and improvement if it is to remain healthy. That is particularly true at a...

Posted 05 Mar 2026