Articles by Josiah Mortimer

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Josiah Mortimer, former Head of Communications

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4 things wrong with the latest ‘reform’ claims from the House of Lords…

If a new proclamation is to be believed, the UK’s unelected second chamber is apparently ‘on course’ to reduce in size, ‘within the timeframe set out’ in a report by a House of Lords committee...

Posted 25 Oct 2018

Inside the funny world of ‘contempt of Parliament’

It’s a commonly established practice that Parliamentary select committees can ask witnesses to attend hearings and answer questions. This frequently happens during inquiries – like the culture committee’s current investigation into the role of fake...

Posted 08 Jun 2018

What Cambridge Analytica tells us about our out-dated campaign laws

Online campaigning is the 21st century’s wild west – and the Cambridge Analytica saga is a very stark reminder that we have to conquer the new terrain. The main legislation regulating political parties’ campaigning...

Posted 22 Mar 2018

The Conservatives just pledged to take our democracy back decades

Yesterday Theresa May launched the Conservatives’ manifesto. There was a lot of talk about ‘moving forwards’. But one pledge stuck out as doing the exact opposite. Theresa May has pledged to impose (or in the manifesto’s...

Posted 19 May 2017

The next government must extend votes at 16 beyond Scotland

You might not have realised, but on Thursday, thousands of 16 and 17 year olds trekked to polling stations across the country to exercise their democratic right to vote. They went with the full support...

Posted 05 May 2017

Fighting for fair votes around the world – lessons from the Global Greens Congress

Proportional representation has been a longstanding campaign of the Greens. But not just here in the UK – democratic reform is often a key plank of Green platforms. So it was fascinating to see leaders...

Posted 07 Apr 2017

How PR ‘completely transformed’ New Zealand politics: Metiria Turei, Green Party co-leader

In 1996, New Zealand introduced the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) voting system – a mixed FPTP and proportional list voting system. It was a big step forward for the fight for fair votes everywhere. I...

Posted 06 Apr 2017

The momentum for Lords reform is growing

Reform often comes through an unusual mix of factors. They stir up within a short space of time – until the whole strange potion explodes. It feels like we might be witnessing that process right...

Posted 10 Mar 2017

The inquiry on cutting the Lords risks looking like a stitch up

Back in December, the House of Lords voted unanimously to back the statement “that this House believes that its size should be reduced, and methods should be explored by which this could be achieved”. It...

Posted 14 Feb 2017

100,000 names for PR: let’s get fair votes on Parliament’s agenda

Four months ago, an electoral reform supporter started a petition on the government’s e-petition site to introduce a proportional voting system for Westminster elections. Today, it has over 60,000 signatures – and is growing by the day....

Posted 07 Feb 2017