Articles and Insights

Accessible commentary and insights from the Electoral Reform Society, on the issues shaping our democracy.

Featured Articles Latest Insights Polling & Public Opinion The Basics of First Past the Post Speaking up for Voters How our Country Works Global Perspectives

Featured Articles

The main stories selected by the Electoral Reform Society's team.

House of Lords

The end of the Hereditary Peerage: A long campaign and an important victory

March 11, 2026

We saw a big victory last night as the bill to remove the last hereditary peers from the House of Lords finally passed. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill means the remaining 84 hereditary peers will no longer have the automatic right to sit in the upper chamber for life, influencing the laws we all live under, purely due to who their parents were.

Read article →
Progress must not stall here
Electoral Reform in Westminster

The Representation of the People Bill moves democracy forward – but more progress is needed

March 5, 2026

At the Electoral Reform Society, we believe democracy is never a finished project. Something so hard won requires constant attention, updating and improvement if it is to remain healthy.

Read article →
House of Lords

How can someone be removed from the House of Lords?

February 4, 2026

When peers make headlines for the wrong reasons, the same question inevitably arises: how do you actually remove someone from the House of Lords? The answer reveals a troubling truth about accountability in our democracy.

Read article →
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Business leaders make the case for electoral reform

January 19, 2026

We saw a significant intervention in the debate around electoral reform last week. More than 20 business leaders, including the chairman of the Virgin Group, Peter Norris, called for Westminster to scrap the failing First Past the Post voting system after the political chaos it has contributed to in recent years.

Read article →

Latest Insights

The latest articles and insights from the Electoral Reform Society's team.

This pilot will make voting more convenient and accessible
Polling Day

Early voting trials offer a promising addition to our democracy

March 12, 2026

Written by Thomas Worth While the focus has been on the 30 councils who saw their elections delayed and then...

This is about who has right to shape our laws
House of Lords

Hereditary peer ‘back door’ compromise risks undermining manifesto promise

March 9, 2026

It seems the legislative game of hide and seek around the bill to remove the hereditary peers from the Lords...

The government should not be able to instruct the people trying to referee its re-election
Campaign Regulation

Big win as government commits to restoring independence of Electoral Commission

March 4, 2026

We just saw a significant victory when it comes to ensuring the independence of our elections watchdog. It came during...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

Latest UK polling: As voters spread their support, our voting system can’t keep up

March 4, 2026

Where elections often used to be a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservatives, voters are now spreading their support...

Read all articles →

Polling & Public Opinion

Analysis of the latest polling from the Electoral Reform Society's research department.

View all polling analysis →

The Basics of First Past the Post

Discover how we are let down by the way we elect MPs to Westminster.

The majority of people are represented by an MP they didnt want
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Why First Past the Post leaves most of us without voice in parliament

January 15, 2026

We live in a country where each constituency has a single MP. Yet for most people this means the MP...

Why reach out when you can win a majority on just 30 percent of the vote
Electoral Reform in Westminster

How First Past the Post turns politics into tribal warfare

December 10, 2025

Poll after poll and headline after headline in the U.K may leave you with the impression of a country more...

First Past the Post doesn’t care how narrow or extreme a party’s agendas is
Electoral Reform in Westminster

How First Past the Post lets people with fringe views slip through the net

November 13, 2025

Britain’s First Past the Post system was designed for a two-party age. One that pretty much everyone agrees we no...

The real fights aren’t across the floor of the Commons but inside the ruling party itself
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Why single-party governments under First Past the Post fail to get things done

October 29, 2025

For all the talk of “strong government,” the reality of single-party rule under First Past the Post (FPTP) often looks...

Read more on First Past the Post's failings →

Speaking up for Voters

Read the latest articles from the Electoral Reform Society's spokespeople

Darren Hughes

Chief Executive

Jessica Garland

Director of Policy and Research

Jessica Blair

ERS Cymru Director

Willie Sullivan

Senior Director, Campaigns and Scotland

How Our Country Works

Discover how power functions in the UK.

Scotland should look again at how its parliament is elected
Scottish Parliament

Why Holyrood’s voting system still favours larger parties

February 24, 2026

Everyone knows that First Past the Post favours the largest party. At the last Westminster election, Labour managed to turn...

As the electorate increasingly fragments our system is failing to reflect our preferences
Electoral Reform in Westminster

What can the Effective Number of Parties tell us about First Past the Post?

February 19, 2026

Written by Thomas Worth The results of the 2024 General Election were the most disproportional in British political history. The...

When we don't want people to pick up an activity, we don't let them start until they are 18
Votes at 16

Why voting isn’t like drinking or smoking

January 19, 2026

I’m pretty glad that 12-year-olds aren’t allowed to drive buses. We have age restrictions on many things for pretty good...

The majority of people are represented by an MP they didnt want
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Why First Past the Post leaves most of us without voice in parliament

January 15, 2026

We live in a country where each constituency has a single MP. Yet for most people this means the MP...

Read more on how our country works →

Global Perspectives

Discover how countries around the world run their elections.

All 🌍 Australia 🇦🇺 Austria 🇦🇹 Belgium 🇧🇪 Brazil 🇧🇷 Canada 🇨🇦 Denmark 🇩🇰 Estonia 🇪🇪 Fiji 🇫🇯 Finland 🇫🇮 France 🇫🇷 Germany 🇩🇪 Greece 🇬🇷 Guernsey 🇬🇬 Hungary 🇭🇺 India 🇮🇳 Ireland 🇮🇪 Italy 🇮🇹 Jamaica 🇯🇲 Japan 🇯🇵 Jersey 🇯🇪 Latvia 🇱🇻 Lebanon 🇱🇧 Malta 🇲🇹 Netherlands 🇳🇱 New Zealand 🇳🇿 North Korea 🇰🇵 Norway 🇳🇴 Poland 🇵🇱 Portugal 🇵🇹 Romania 🇷🇴 Slovenia 🇸🇮 South Africa 🇿🇦 Sweden 🇸🇪 Switzerland 🇨🇭 Turkey 🇹🇷 United States of America 🇺🇸
First Past the Post has randomly thrown up parliaments that bear little resemblance to how Canadians voted
Electoral Reform in Westminster

First Past the Post has played havoc with Canadian federal elections

April 24, 2025

Earlier this year, we wrote about Justin Trudeau’s regret at failing to deliver electoral reform during his near decade as...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

How Trudeau missed the opportunity for electoral reform in Canada

January 29, 2025

At the beginning of 2025, the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced his decision to resign. He will stay in...

The party that came 4th in the vote came second in seats
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Quebec’s 2022 election reveals error of not scrapping first past the post

October 5, 2022

Back in 2018 we reported on the excitement in Quebec which was set for a move from First Past the Post (FPTP)...

other countries have powerful regional representatives, Britain remains the odd-one-out
House of Lords

How are the members of upper houses chosen around the world?

January 27, 2022

Many countries use a bicameral political system – meaning that they have two chambers in their parliament. These parliaments are...

This is the fourth post-war Canadian election and second in a row with a wrong winner
Electoral Reform in Westminster

First Past the Post has failed to give the most popular Canadian party the most seats

September 22, 2021

Minority government on 32% of the vote is one thing, but it is another when it isn’t even the most...

Canadian Election
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Canada’s election: Last call for First Past the Post?

October 23, 2019

It looks like Justin Trudeau has narrowly secured his second term as Canada’s Prime Minister. But his party lost out...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

Ontario and Québec look towards electoral reform

October 29, 2018

We’ve covered the exciting moves towards fair votes in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island – two Canadian provinces looking...

Canadian Election
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Voting opens in British Columbian electoral reform referendum

October 22, 2018

Attempts at electoral reform in British Columbia (B.C.) – Canada’s westernmost and third most populous province – date back more...

Canadian Election
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Is First Past the Post on its way out in Canada?

October 18, 2018

Around the world, countries that inherited a Westminster style of government from their former colonial rulers have been, one by...

Canadian Election
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Electoral reform returns to the agenda in British Columbia

May 18, 2017

British Columbia, Canada’s most Western province, has often been the site of electoral reform intrigue. In the run-up to the...

Maine ranked choice voting
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Electoral reform is making waves across the Atlantic

November 3, 2016

There’s something in the air, it seems. As I write, electoral reformers in Canada and the US have a real...

Canadian Election
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Canada heads to the polls

October 19, 2015

Of all the former colonies to which Britain has left behind the Westminster model of democracy perhaps none so obviously...

Canadian Election
House of Lords

The Canadian Senate – A second-rate second chamber

August 3, 2015

In the current debate about Lords reform it can often be tempting to look for easy solutions which broadly keep...

Read More on the Global Perspective →