A cross-party group of MPs are fighting Westminster’s broken voting systemThis week is the first National Democracy Week – a rare moment to put the ‘nuts and bolts’ of democracy on the agenda. The elections of the past year have shown that Westminster’s First Past...Posted 04 Jul 2018
Four ways Westminster’s politics needs fixing this Democracy WeekMonday marks the start of the first ‘National Democracy Week’ – the government’s initiative to encourage democratic participation. It has been established on the premise that “regardless of who we are or where we are...Posted 29 Jun 2018
Revealed: The Lords is increasingly out of touch with modern BritainTo many of us, the House of Lords looks very much like a private members’ club – a cosy corner of Westminster, where unelected peers vote on our laws. But just how out of touch...Posted 18 Jun 2018
Why are Ministers celebrating citizens losing their right to vote?In a comment piece for The Times this week, Chloe Smith, Minister for the Constitution, made some bold claims about the government’s voter ID trials, which took place in five areas last month. She said the...Posted 08 Jun 2018
There’s a sham election happening in Parliament. Here’s what you need to knowThe idea that people can become lawmakers for life – simply because they were born into the ‘right’ family – is, to most of us, absurd. Yet in the UK, in 2018, this is the...Posted 04 Jun 2018
Without urgent action, Britain’s super-sized second chamber is going to get even biggerIt’s already the second largest chamber in the world – but it’s about to get bigger. The House of Lords will be ‘bursting at the seams’ with more than 1,000 members by 2031, if its current...Posted 30 May 2018
The government tried to bury news on the bloated House of Lords. Here’s the facts…“Theresa May backs bid to cut the size of House of Lords” began a headline in February. It seems that three months is a lifetime in politics… Over the weekend, the PM attempted to bury...Posted 22 May 2018
Britain’s democratic farce: This is how the upcoming ‘hereditary by-election’ will workLast week, there was a rather hushed announcement in parliament: a resignation among the Lords. A peer has decided to retire. No big news usually, but this is no ordinary peerage. Nor will it be an ordinary...Posted 16 May 2018
No more filibustering – why the government should get behind a fairer franchiseScotland has it, Wales is getting it, and more and more politicians are calling for it in England. Yet on Friday, a handful of MPs prevented legislation on votes at 16 going to the next...Posted 15 May 2018
If you didn’t already think the voter ID trial was a mess, you will after reading thisThe government’s rationale for its ill-considered Voter ID pilots was to tackle “electoral fraud” – a criminal offence of which allegations are rightly investigated by the police. So it doesn’t look good for the government...Posted 08 May 2018