Citizens in British Columbia are set to decide on their voting system. Here is what you should know…Back in May 2017 I brought you the story of the British Columbian general election which had seen no party get half the seats in the Legislative Assembly of Canada’s Westernmost province, leading to a...Posted 01 Jun 2018
A new report shows we need urgent action to revive our democracyFor the past fifteen years, the Hansard Society – a thinktank which promotes parliamentary democracy – has published its Audit of Political Engagement. The Audit is an attempt to measure the level of engagement of...Posted 01 May 2018
Trade unionists say it’s time to fix Westminster – and build a ‘politics for the many’Politics for the Many is an alliance of trade unionists who champion political reform – and last week they set out the findings of their debut report at this year’s Scottish Trade Union Congress in...Posted 24 Apr 2018
Seven things you need to know about the local electionsBlink and you’ll miss the coverage, but local elections are happening on Thursday 3 May in England. A lot has changed since these seats were last contested, in 2014. We had the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government,...Posted 16 Apr 2018
Four reasons why trade unionists are backing a shake-up of Westminster’s political systemToday is an important milestone in the broad campaign for political reform: the movement has won fresh civil society support. A new report from campaigners ‘Politics For The Many’ is calling for a shift in the...Posted 16 Apr 2018
The birth of Hungary’s Franken-voting systemThe three-time two-thirds majority winning political party Fidesz has been able to reshape Hungary’s political institutions because of the 2010 election, in which it won 53% of the vote, and won its first two-thirds majority....Posted 13 Apr 2018
Just how popular is Hungary’s Fidesz?Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010. On Sunday, its dominance was confirmed, as it won its third two-thirds majority in a row, winning 134 of 199 seats. In most European countries,...Posted 12 Apr 2018
More votes but fewer seats? Surely you’re joking?Imagine if at the next General Election one party received the most votes, but another – with fewer votes – returned more MPs. It sounds wholly unfair, undemocratic and absurd. But that is exactly what...Posted 05 Mar 2018
Social media can be an effective tool for MPs when done the right wayPolitical nuts were sent into a frenzy last week by the launch of a new social media platform – Matt Hancock. To briefly explain – the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,...Posted 05 Feb 2018
How we vote has to change if our voices are to be heardIt came as no surprise this week that the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed nearly three in five people (57%) in the UK feel their views are not being represented in British politics. It is the inevitable consequence...Posted 24 Jan 2018