Policies for a fairer politics: How we can fix a broken systemThis election, the political system is more distrusted by voters than it has been for years. It’s not hard to see why. The sense that people do not feel ‘heard’ is growing: an ERS poll...Posted 08 Nov 2019
Voter ID checks threaten to suppress voter rights ‘on industrial scale’The Windrush scandal showed what can happen when millions of people who lack ID are shut out by Government. But the announcement in the Queen’s Speech proposing mandatory voter ID checks means there’s a risk of repeating those...Posted 15 Oct 2019
Ed Davey – Liberal Democrat Leadership InterviewElectoral Reform Society Chief Executive Darren Hughes spoke with Lib Dem leadership candidate Ed Davey Darren Hughes: Ed, thank you very much for joining us as part of your campaign I know that you’ve always...Posted 12 Jul 2019
Jo Swinson – Liberal Democrat Leadership InterviewOur Chief Executive Darren Hughes interviewed Liberal Democrat Leadership hopeful Jo Swinson on her democratic priorities. Darren Hughes: Let’s kick off with what we’re about at the ERS! Do you think recent events and politics...Posted 12 Jul 2019
Why a directly elected PM could trigger a constitutional crisisThis piece was originally published by The Times In the current Conservative Party leadership election MPs and party members will select the next leader of the party — itself no strange thing. We’ve seen similar...Posted 21 Jun 2019
Volatile voting: Why the next General Election is going to be a shamblesVoters want to shop around more than ever – but they will be calamitously constrained by Westminster’s electoral system, according to new analysis by the ERS. 2015 and 2017 saw the highest levels of voter...Posted 04 Jun 2019
Democracy cancelled: How parties have captured hundreds of seats before local election dayLarge parts of England are effectively democracy deserts, with hundreds of thousands of potential voters denied real choice in this May’s elections. New research by the Electoral Reform Society ahead of next month’s vote shows...Posted 19 Apr 2019
Why A General Election Won’t Solve The Brexit DeadlockOne piece of news got buried last week. While Labour held on to Newport West in Thursday’s by-election, the full figures reveal an interesting picture. Back in 2017 Labour and the Conservatives took nearly 92%...Posted 11 Apr 2019
In a Snap Brexit Election, 16 and 17 Year-Olds Must Have the VoteYoung people are refusing to be ignored – the recent school climate strikes and campaigning on Brexit have shown that. But while they can protest outside Parliament all they want, there’s a brutal fact: they...Posted 05 Apr 2019
While MPs debate our democratic future, another aristocrat takes a seat in Parliament for lifeOn Wednesday – while elected MPs debated Britain’s future – the results came out for the latest in a series of bizarre House of Lords ‘by-elections’. The vote – to fill the vacant seat following...Posted 28 Mar 2019