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Obvious Route for Australian Senate Reform Ignored

Interest in the Australian political system has been building over the last couple of weeks over a proposal to make some notable reforms to the electoral system for the Senate. Each of Australia’s six States...

Posted 23 Feb 2016

In memory of Lord Avebury

On 14th February 2016 Lord Avebury, or Eric Lubbock, sadly passed away. Lord Avebury, a Liberal Democrat Peer, was a proud democratic reformer throughout his life, campaigning for proportional representation and a range of democratic causes. He...

Posted 15 Feb 2016

Call me maybe – why the Scottish Lobbying Bill gets it wrong on digital comms

This is a guest blog, originally published by the Scottish Alliance for Lobbying Transparency. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. By Pete Mills, Unlock Democracy...

Posted 15 Feb 2016

Time for a Registration Revolution

Today is National Voter Registration day, launched by our friends at Bite the Ballot. Voter registration is an integral part of our democracy. If you’re not registered you can’t vote. Electoral boundaries are now also drawn based...

Posted 05 Feb 2016

Leanne Wood: We need a Welsh Representation of the People Act

This is a guest blog by Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. This week the Electoral...

Posted 04 Feb 2016

Iowan Explanation – The raucous in the caucus explained

No election grabs the world’s attention quite like an American election does. This is largely because whatever else might be the case, the US is still the world’s superpower. But there is also something inherently...

Posted 01 Feb 2016

Q&A with Katie Ghose: "We need a democracy fit for the 21st century"

The interview below was first published by the online magazine Blue & Green Tomorrow. Katie became Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society in 2010. A campaigner and barrister with a background in human rights law and...

Posted 27 Jan 2016

5 Myths About the Scottish Lobbying Bill

This is a guest post by Pete Mills from Unlock Democracy In the first week back after Christmas, MSPs debated a Bill to introduce a lobbying register designed to let ordinary people know who is...

Posted 25 Jan 2016

Scotland needs a stronger Lobbying Bill

Remember the phone-hacking scandal? It seems long ago, but we shouldn’t forget how much we learned about the ways big private interests try to influence policy. The Leveson Inquiry dug up all sorts of stories...

Posted 07 Jan 2016