It’s time to get the public involved in BrexitThe way people talk about ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’ is enough to make you think they have always been at loggerheads – two irreconcilable opponents, fated to oppose each other forever and ever. But it’s not...Posted 12 Jul 2017
The House of Lords is in the midst of yet another hereditary peers’ by-electionBy Darren Hughes In case you’re not aware of this bizarre constitutional anomaly, in 1999, the House of Lords Act kicked out all but 92 hereditary peers. But instead of reducing that number over time,...Posted 11 Jul 2017
2017 was the first online media election. Let’s look at what this means for democracyAccording to recent research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2017 was the first general election where online news over took TV as the most popular source of news. But whilst this...Posted 29 Jun 2017
First Past the Post’s Third StrikeWe’ve heard it time and time again in different forms: First Past the Post is ‘strong and stable’. It seems that myth has been well and truly bust. This is the third election in a...Posted 12 Jun 2017
Closing the registration generation gapYoung voters are in the spotlight this election. Significant gaps in current polling have been explained by differences in how pollsters are measuring youth turnout. Younger electors are also behind the surge in electoral registration....Posted 06 Jun 2017
The drop in attainers on the electoral roll should worry us allWith a week to go before the cut off for registering to vote for the general election on June 8th, our research has shown that the proportion of school leavers on the electoral roll dropped...Posted 17 May 2017
Democracy, Diversity and English DevolutionThe excitement of the general election aside, it’s important to remember that there are other important elections coming up – ones that have gone largely under the national radar. As well as important local elections...Posted 19 Apr 2017
Enough is enough – it’s time for a full review of Lords’ expensesIt seems that each new batch of expenses from the House of Lords is yet another scandal. This weekend we saw fresh revelations – and with it, some pretty egregious abuses of the system. Yesterday...Posted 03 Apr 2017
The Brexit deficitIf there was a ‘word cloud’ of popular news topics over the last twelve months then ‘Brexit’ would be front, centre and in bold. Since last June’s referendum the topic has dominated headlines, been the...Posted 27 Mar 2017
We did it: petition for PR hits 100,000 signaturesWe did it. The petition to introduce real Proportional Representation for Westminster has hit its target of 100,000 – with over two weeks to go. Thousands of you shared our blogs, tweets, emails and posts...Posted 21 Mar 2017