News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

Around the World | Current Affairs Commentary | Developments at the ERS | Your Questions Answered | Case Studies

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

UK constituency map

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

Shifting boundaries

With the General Election now just weeks away, and speculation about possible coalition arrangements taking centre stage, it would be easy to overlook a very important and immediate legislative priority that the new government, whatever...

Posted 16 Mar 2015

Women in Westminster

One of the chief reasons why people are increasingly alienated from our politics is the fact that Westminster looks so little like the people it is there to represent. At the moment, barely one in...

Posted 13 Mar 2015

Democratising Devo Manc

The ERS has long campaigned for devolution to the local level, but the Society also campaigns for proportional representation at a local level. Here ERS Deputy Chief Executive Darren Hughes outlines why they should go hand...

Posted 25 Feb 2015

Deal or no deal

The public are sick to death of party funding scandals. Over the last two weeks we have been exposed to yet more findings about the suspect dealings of party donors. It brings our democracy into...

Posted 19 Feb 2015