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We closed a lobbying loophole

We’re welcoming a victory today in our campaign to make lobbying in Scotland more transparent. Yesterday we received a letter from the Scottish Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick, stating that the Scottish Government will...

Posted 11 Mar 2016

Which Women Win? The 2015 English local elections

This is a guest post by James Winterbotham, University of Exeter James Winterbotham is an undergraduate student of social sciences and data analysis at the University of Exeter. As part of a team working with...

Posted 08 Mar 2016

People feel left in the dark by the EU referendum debate

With less than four months to go before the referendum, the signs are that the EU debate just isn’t reaching the public. Today we publish polling by BMG Research showing that just one in six...

Posted 07 Mar 2016

Four Reasons Conservatives Should Support Electoral Reform

The Scottish Conservative Party conference kicks off today, and one of the highlights will be the launch of a new pamphlet, “Light Blue Ideas”, edited by Professor Alan Convery. Alan is a lecturer in politics...

Posted 04 Mar 2016

Lessons from referendums

While we’re nowhere near Switzerland or California in constantly using referendums, the UK is becoming accustomed to big constitutional votes. In 2011, the ballot on switching to the Alternative Vote was only the second UK-wide...

Posted 01 Mar 2016

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

More Lords, fewer MPs?…

Since 2010, the Prime Minister has appointed rather a lot of Peers. 244, to be precise. That’s a lot of new politicians. So it was strange to hear the news on Friday that the government are going ahead with...

Posted 12 Feb 2016

Charities have nothing to fear from the Scottish Lobbying Bill

This is a guest blog – the opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. MSc student Megan Elliot, who is conducting research on lobbying...

Posted 12 Feb 2016