Manifestos outside the big two parties: Putting democracy on the agenda Last week we looked at the sections of the Labour and Conservative manifestos that touched on democracy-related issues. This week, we turn our attention to the other parties that are standing candidates in virtually all... Posted 19 Jun 2024
What does a super-majority mean and is it something we should worry about? In the last week, the current defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has been appearing in the news to warn about the supposed dangers of a Labour ‘super-majority’. He told Times Radio “You don’t want to have... Posted 18 Jun 2024
Labour manifesto: Encouraging first steps – but we need to address rock bottom trust in politics This week we had startling and deeply concerning news about the state of our democracy. A study from the National Centre for Social Research concluded that: ‘All in all, it appears that people’s trust in... Posted 13 Jun 2024
Conservative manifesto: Missing pledges to improve our democracy The launch of the Conservative manifesto yesterday was conspicuously light on democratic policy with little mention by way of reforms desperately needed to strengthen our democracy. Voter ID Policy The Conservatives made only one proposal... Posted 13 Jun 2024
Digital imprints: what are they and why are they useful? This general election will be the biggest we’ve seen yet for online campaigning. It’s an area where the ERS, along with many others, have long called for updates in electoral law. While there is still... Posted 06 Jun 2024
TV Debates have become an important part of our elections, let’s do them right The first election debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will be on our TV screens tonight, at 9pm on ITV. We’ve already seen a debate between party leaders in Scotland (none of whom are... Posted 04 Jun 2024
Over 100 seats haven’t changed hands for 100 years or more We often hear that politics is unpredictable, that anything can happen in the upcoming election – but the reality is that hundreds of seats across the country haven’t changed hands in decades. While the MP... Posted 03 Jun 2024
Could this be the last general election that excludes 16 and 17 year olds? At the Electoral Reform Society, we have long been advocates of extending the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in general elections. So, we were pleased to see that, when asked on the campaign... Posted 29 May 2024
Imposing First Past the Post on these roles was a mistake The recent mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections took place under a First Past the Post (FPTP) system, where people are able to put just one ‘X’ on their ballot – choosing only one... Posted 15 May 2024
First Past the Post means 100,000 Welsh voters were denied a say in the last local elections Local elections are an important part of democracy in Wales. But did you know that thousands of voters have a councillor that nobody voted for at all? Due to the Westminster-style First Past the Post... Posted 15 May 2024