Nail in the Coffin of Westminster’s voting system Well, it’s all over. All the months of campaigning have resulted in an election outcome which few predicted. It was a good night for the bookies, and a bad night for the pollsters – but... Posted 11 May 2015
So who gets to be Prime Minister? In 2011 the Fixed Term Parliaments Act was passed. Setting aside its merits or demerits, the politics behind its introduction and the decision to fix the terms at five years, it is a piece of... Posted 06 May 2015
A personal history of First Past the Post 1950 – 2010 This blog is a guest piece by one of our members, Alan Errock. I’m now 86 and have voted in election after election, but my vote has seldom counted towards the result. Here is my... Posted 05 May 2015
What’s happening in Scotland? If the polls are to be believed, next Thursday Scotland will vote to send more SNP MPs to the House of Commons than ever before. Why is what used to be a stable voting pattern... Posted 29 Apr 2015
Who’s afraid of sharing power? If you were to judge British public opinion from newspaper headlines, you would assume we were terrified of the idea of political parties working together. The horror stories of smaller parties ‘holding the country to... Posted 27 Apr 2015
Taking your time forming a government Some things can be done in a hurry, but forming a Government certainly shouldn’t be one of them. In our recent report, Working Together, we set out the guidelines for forming power-sharing arrangements based on... Posted 20 Apr 2015
Do you live in a safe seat? The outcome of this election is, on the whole, unpredictable. Who will form the next government is the question on everyone’s lips. But in hundreds of seats across the country, people already know the result.... Posted 10 Apr 2015
How popular is power-sharing? Yesterday the views of Brits were unveiled to the world. And in some ways, they make for some startling reading. The British Social Attitudes Survey – a renowned national study of voters’ opinions – was... Posted 30 Mar 2015
Working together What is the best way for parties to share power? How can you make minority government work? And how do you negotiate a successful coalition? These are some of the questions likely to be at the forefront... Posted 23 Mar 2015
A sectarian voting system The announcement by the two main unionist parties in Northern Ireland that they have entered into an electoral pact for the up-coming general election highlights a major problem with our electoral system. The idea that parties step... Posted 20 Mar 2015