How do elections work in Norway? Like most European countries, Norway first adopted proportional representation in the early 20th century, with this October representing 100 years since Norwegians elected their first proportional parliament. Posted 09 Sep 2021
5 events not to miss at Labour conference Support is growing across the Labour movement for reform of Westminster’s creaking electoral system. 83% of Labour members support PR according to the latest polling, and over 250 CLPs have already passed local policy in... Posted 09 Sep 2021
Barriers to entry: How do electoral thresholds work? A common feature of many Party List PR systems is an electoral threshold – a pre-set bar that parties have to reach if they want to win seats. Posted 03 Sep 2021
How do Westminster election results compare to those of devolved institutions? This May, the sixth set of elections took place for each of the devolved institutions in the nations of Britain – the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) and the London Assembly. It was a... Posted 20 Aug 2021
Analysis: Police and Crime Commissioners and the Supplementary Vote The re-run of May’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election in Wiltshire and Swindon takes place on the 19th August, after the winning candidate was disbarred due to a historical driving conviction. The original election... Posted 19 Aug 2021
Which votes get transferred with the Single Transferable Vote? The first meetings of the Electoral Reform Society, then known as the Proportional Representation Society, quickly settled on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the best option for electoral reform. Posted 17 Aug 2021
Baroness Randerson on working together, Westminster’s weakness, and ‘recasting’ democracy Baroness Jenny Randerson speaks to Josiah Mortimer about reforming the Welsh and UK electoral systems and the future of devolution. Posted 12 Aug 2021
Hare vs Droop: How to set the quota under STV The first meetings of the Proportional Representation Society quickly attracted many leading lights of the Victorian age – including Lewis Carroll, CP Scott (editor of what is now The Guardian) and Thomas Hare (the inventor... Posted 10 Aug 2021
Conservative councillor: How the Single Transferable Vote broke open Scotland’s one-party fiefdoms "With STV, we are trying to steal a march on other parties, while at the same time cooperating for the public good." Posted 05 Aug 2021
Joint letter: 650 voters in London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland call for PR at Westminster A new report from the ERS celebrates two-decades of proportional representation in Britain, including the Senedd, Scottish Parliament, and London Assembly. Posted 02 Aug 2021