Party over Principle: Independence in the LordsThe House of Lords is often assumed to be more independent than the Commons because it is less strongly whipped and because it contains Crossbench members who do not have a party affiliation. But it’s...Posted 09 Oct 2015
Building Alliances for Electoral Reform – ERS at Lib Dem conferenceWith five parties united against First Past the Post – the Lib Dems, UKIP, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru – the issue of how to win proportional representation has come to the fore. And it’s a particularly...Posted 30 Sep 2015
An Elected Lord?The British constitution, its parliament and its institutions are well known for its oddities and eccentricities: the space provided in the Commons cloakroom for MPs to hang their sword; the fact that all swans in...Posted 18 Sep 2015
The Scottish people should be involved in the devolution debateYesterday (Wednesday 16th September) the Scottish Parliament debated ‘Scotland’s Future: Democracy and Devolution’. One year on from the independence referendum, and with the Scotland Bill due to go to report stage in the next few...Posted 17 Sep 2015
Are the SNP about to break the Holyrood voting system (again)?This article was co-authored by ERS Scotland’s Juliet Swann and Danny Zinkus Sutton from Unlock Democracy Pollsters are perhaps not to be relied upon after their predictions for the General Election earlier in the year. Yet,...Posted 24 Aug 2015
Taking advantage of the Greek electoral lawGreece will return to the polls on September 20th. This is the third nationwide poll this year, after an earlier election in January and a referendum in June. It is also the fourth general election...Posted 21 Aug 2015
The New Zealand Flag ReferendumFor many years the New Zealand flag has been the subject of much debate. Adopted when New Zealand was still a part of the British Empire, their national standard has the British flag within it....Posted 18 Aug 2015
It’s official: the House of Lords is completely bustToday, we can reveal that the House of Lords is officially, well and truly bust. We’re pleased to launch our new report on our unelected upper chamber: ‘House of Lords: Fact vs Fiction’ – where...Posted 16 Aug 2015
The House of Lords Needs a Major Overhaul, Not Tinkering Around the EdgesCalls for reform of the House of Lords have been heard even more loudly that normal in the last ten days and the reason is fairly obvious. The current set-up comes nowhere close to being...Posted 04 Aug 2015
Our unelected House of Lords is in dire need of a clear-outAnother month, another political controversy. In the Lords however – unlike our elected Commons – there’s no way for the public to hold Peers to account at the ballot box. Instead, you have to hope that...Posted 30 Jul 2015