Changing boundaries shouldn’t change election resultsFor the past 30 years, political scientists Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher have been investigating how new boundaries will impact the political makeup of Parliament. Whenever new constituency maps are designed, they estimate what the...Posted 16 Jan 2024
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2023Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first...Posted 14 Dec 2023
Strong government vs good government? First Past the Post means our governments will always fail to deliverGovernment failures are always in the news, but we rarely question why it is that our governments often seem so wholly incapable of delivering on their objectives. It’s easy to point at individual ministers and...Posted 30 Nov 2023
24 years ago the Greater London Authority Act gained royal assentThis weekend (11th November) marks the 24th anniversary of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 gaining royal assent. The Greater London Authority, comprising the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, was first elected in...Posted 10 Nov 2023
Support for electoral reform is strong at the Liberal Democrat’s 2023 conferenceHeading to the Liberal Democrats’ 2023 conference in Bournemouth to promote electoral reform is not the hardest task I’ve been handed in my working life! Saying that, our task was more to find out if they...Posted 28 Sep 2023
Resignation honours are the worst, but all patronage is badThe fact that Liz Truss’s short-term premiership can result in lifetime appointments to the house of House of Lords has rightfully angered many. But it is just an example of business as usual in Westminster,...Posted 23 Aug 2023
First Past the Post locks many talented people out of politicsThis week, Politics Home reported that Regional Tories Are Snubbing Parachuted MP Candidates In Favour Of “Local Champions”. It seems that number of Conservative candidates with a background in local government is increasing at each...Posted 11 Aug 2023
Should the ERS look at the rules for… Tennis?As tennis players line up for the Wimbledon semi-finals, and candidates hit the doorstep for multiple by-elections, we’ve been thinking about how useful sporting analogies are when it comes to politics. As, when you think...Posted 14 Jul 2023
Now we know at least 14,000 were blocked from voting, voter ID should be scrappedOn the 23rd June, the Electoral Commission published their provisional report on the rollout of voter ID. One figure stands out from their research: 14,000 eligible voters were denied their democratic right to cast their...Posted 11 Jul 2023
Northern Ireland’s local elections show the benefit of the Single Transferable VoteOn the 18th of May, Northern Ireland’s local elections showcased the continued successful use of the Single Transferable Vote (STV). This inclusive and proportional method stands in stark contrast to the disproportionate results witnessed in...Posted 26 May 2023