Are the SNP about to break the Holyrood voting system (again)?This article was co-authored by ERS Scotland’s Juliet Swann and Danny Zinkus Sutton from Unlock Democracy Pollsters are perhaps not to be relied upon after their predictions for the General Election earlier in the year. Yet,...Posted 24 Aug 2015
Costly cronies of the House of LordsIn our new report, House of Lords Fact vs Fiction, we took a look at some of the enduring myths that surround our unelected second chamber. Peers are technically unpaid, but unlike the thousands of people...Posted 24 Aug 2015
Taking advantage of the Greek electoral lawGreece will return to the polls on September 20th. This is the third nationwide poll this year, after an earlier election in January and a referendum in June. It is also the fourth general election...Posted 21 Aug 2015
The New Zealand Flag ReferendumFor many years the New Zealand flag has been the subject of much debate. Adopted when New Zealand was still a part of the British Empire, their national standard has the British flag within it....Posted 18 Aug 2015
It’s official: the House of Lords is completely bustToday, we can reveal that the House of Lords is officially, well and truly bust. We’re pleased to launch our new report on our unelected upper chamber: ‘House of Lords: Fact vs Fiction’ – where...Posted 16 Aug 2015
Andy Burnham’s identified the right problem – but his solution falls shortTry as the political class might, calls to reform the House of Lords always come to the fore. So it’s no surprise that the issue has been on the agenda again for the past week....Posted 10 Aug 2015
The House of Lords Needs a Major Overhaul, Not Tinkering Around the EdgesCalls for reform of the House of Lords have been heard even more loudly that normal in the last ten days and the reason is fairly obvious. The current set-up comes nowhere close to being...Posted 04 Aug 2015
The Canadian Senate – A second-rate second chamberIn the current debate about Lords reform it can often be tempting to look for easy solutions which broadly keep the structure of the Lords as it is, but deal with some of its defects....Posted 03 Aug 2015
Our unelected House of Lords is in dire need of a clear-outAnother month, another political controversy. In the Lords however – unlike our elected Commons – there’s no way for the public to hold Peers to account at the ballot box. Instead, you have to hope that...Posted 30 Jul 2015
Proportional Representation can build a stronger constituency linkIt is often said that the constituency link is a vital part of British political life; MPs represent local areas and are directly accountable to those areas for their continued careers. If MPs misbehave their...Posted 27 Jul 2015