New polling finds three quarters of public say politics needs to improve significantlyLast week we had extremely concerning news about the state of our democracy. A significant study by the National Centre for Social Research found more people ‘than ever before’ ‘almost never’ trust the British government...Posted 20 Jun 2024
Labour manifesto: Encouraging first steps – but we need to address rock bottom trust in politicsThis week we had startling and deeply concerning news about the state of our democracy. A study from the National Centre for Social Research concluded that: ‘All in all, it appears that people’s trust in...Posted 13 Jun 2024
Conservative manifesto: Missing pledges to improve our democracyThe launch of the Conservative manifesto yesterday was conspicuously light on democratic policy with little mention by way of reforms desperately needed to strengthen our democracy. Voter ID Policy The Conservatives made only one proposal...Posted 13 Jun 2024
Four steps to protect our elections from AI interferenceI recently co-signed a letter with a host of leading third-sector organisations, as well as consumer champion Martin Lewis and Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, calling on political parties to agree a set of guidelines and...Posted 09 May 2024
Lessons not Learnt: New report on 2015, 2017 and 2019 electionsThe last nine years have witnessed three general elections, a nationwide referendum and no less than five prime ministers. At times our politics has felt chaotic, and the output of the Westminster electoral system has...Posted 23 Jan 2024
140 years of winning electoral reformOn a chilly evening exactly 140 years ago, a diverse group gathered at 7 Clarges Street, Westminster. Brought together by the Victorian naturalist, archaeologist and polymath Sir John Lubbock, it was clear to them that the...Posted 16 Jan 2024
David Cameron’s seat at the cabinet table means a seat for life in the LordsDavid Cameron was appointed as Foreign Secretary this week – but he’s not been an MP since 2016. How is he then taking one of the great offices of state? He’s not going to stand...Posted 16 Nov 2023
Democracy is major theme at Labour conferenceFollowing last year’s successful motion on proportional representation, electoral reform and improving our democracy remained some of the biggest topics of discussion at Labour conference this year. The Electoral Reform Society team organised and spoke...Posted 13 Oct 2023
New polling shows 61% oppose Boris Johnson’s resignation peeragesOur new polling has found that just one in 14 people (7%) support Boris Johnson stuffing more peers into the already bulging House of Lords with his resignation honours list. Polling of 2,050 people, conducted...Posted 28 Mar 2023
The ERS team at a historic Labour ConferenceThe campaign for fair votes recently achieved a historic victory when Labour Party Conference voted for a manifesto commitment to proportional representation for general elections. This is a massive moment for democracy in the UK....Posted 05 Oct 2022