Does First Past the Post stop extremists getting into parliaments? If you listen to supporters of first past the post, you might be forgiven for thinking that British voters are just itching to elect dozens of far-left and far-right MPs - with PR just waiting... Posted 15 Dec 2021
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2021 Every 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 13 Dec 2021
Levelling Down: First Past the Post’s impact on regional inequality Looking at just national disproportionality hides far more damning realities of how First Past the Post (FPTP) distorts the votes of the British public. Posted 07 Dec 2021
Dominic Grieve is just the latest conservative to call for a halt to the Elections Bill While the Elections Bill is not expected to return to parliament until the new year, opposition is still growing against this dangerous legislation. The most recent conservative to speak out is former Attorney General, Dominic... Posted 07 Dec 2021
We must end the link between safe seats and second jobs The most revealing type of political scandal is not the one where rules have been broken, but the ones where they haven’t. Where crisis has erupted over conduct that sits very comfortable within current parliamentary... Posted 26 Nov 2021
COP26 shows we need to democratise to decarbonise In the run up to the COP26 climate change conference, a coalition of leading democracy organisations joined together on a campaign to put strong democracy at the heart of any response. The campaign’s message was... Posted 26 Nov 2021
What is the ideal number of MPs per constituency in proportional representation? When choosing a proportional voting system, one of the most important decisions is the number of MPs each constituency elects – its ‘district magnitude. Posted 26 Nov 2021
Hefty majorities become hefty bank balances with MPs’ outside jobs As the second jobs scandal engulfs Westminster, the same line keeps being rolled out by government figures: If voters didn’t like their MPs pocketing sizeable sums from second jobs, they wouldn’t keep re-electing them. Posted 15 Nov 2021
What’s the difference between open and closed list proportional representation? When discussing proportional voting systems, or voting systems in general, we usually talk about how they allocate seats to political parties. But parliaments are more than parties and it also matters how they decide which... Posted 15 Nov 2021
Labour’s Mark Drakeford calls for “radical reform” of the electoral system Mark Drakeford has thrown his support behind changes to how MPs are elected calling for ‘radical reform’ of Westminster’s electoral system. The First Minister of Wales made the remarks at the 2021 Aneurin Bevan Memorial... Posted 28 Oct 2021