News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

Around the World | Current Affairs Commentary | Developments at the ERS | Your Questions Answered | Case Studies

View by category

View by date

Five New Year’s resolutions ministers should be signing up to

If 2018 has shown us anything, it’s that the debates over the state of our democracy are as crucial as ever. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to the controversial ID trials at the local elections,...

Posted 31 Dec 2018

Which European countries use proportional representation?

Of the 43 countries most often considered to be within Europe, 40 use some form of proportional representation to elect their MPs. The UK stands almost alone in Europe in using a ‘one-person-takes-all’ disproportionate voting...

Posted 26 Dec 2018

What we learnt from the ERS Members and Supporters Conference 2018

On the first weekend in December, ERS members and supporters came together for the Society’s Annual Conference and AGM. The majority of the day was made up of workshop sessions, where ERS staff led discussions on...

Posted 21 Dec 2018

How does proportional representation work in Germany?

[Note: Germany updated their voting system for the 2025 election, and introduced new rules. You can find out about that in our article on the election] Elections to Germany’s Bundestag – Germany’s House of Commons...

Posted 18 Dec 2018

Proportionality and fairness makes this an improvement on Westminster

Does Ireland use proportional representation?

Ireland has a long history of using proportional representation and, specifically, the Single Transferable Vote (STV). STV is the Electoral Reform Society’s preferred electoral system. Rather than one person representing everyone in a small area,...

Posted 11 Dec 2018

Building a better democracy – 2018 and the Electoral Reform Society

As a sense of crisis dominates national life, electoral reformers offer an alternative to the way we do politics in the UK. The shadow of the last three general elections is cast wide over Westminster,...

Posted 10 Dec 2018

ERS in the Press – November 2018

Here is just a highlight of the coverage our campaigns have received in the press this month. MPs call for end to ‘political gender gap’ at Westminster We coordinated the media for the Centenary Action Group’s campaign...

Posted 30 Nov 2018

How the Democrats could win the popular vote but not control of the House

Brenda from Bristol famously cried “not another one!” at the news that we were to hold an election in 2017, just two years since the last one. Let’s hope she doesn’t plan to move to...

Posted 06 Nov 2018

Four countries where First Past the Post is dead and buried

As a Halloween treat, we thought we’d have a spooky stroll around the graveyard of First Past the Post. Around the world, voters in country after country, tired of it’s tricks, have chosen to bury...

Posted 31 Oct 2018