Why 32,000 people will be denied a vote in MayOn Thursday 6 May, 27 county councils and 8 unitary authorities in England and Anglesey in Wales will hold elections. Sadly, they give us yet another example of the woeful state of local government. The...Posted 10 Apr 2013
South Shields: Why bother with a by-election?After David Miliband’s shock resignation we’re looking at a by-election in South Shields. At the Electoral Reform Society we care about elections. But in the case of South Shields we’re wondering what’s the point? The...Posted 27 Mar 2013
Electoral Commission slams Police and Crime Commissioner electionsIt’s Official! Everyone (apart from the Home Office) who has looked at the elections for police and crime commissioners (PCCs) say they should never be allowed to happen that way again. At the Electoral Reform...Posted 19 Mar 2013
What Scots really think about devolution?Scots currently aren’t keen on independence, but most of us would like all major powers – including welfare and tax – exercised in Edinburgh, not Westminster. Today we launch a joint report with Scotcen to show what...Posted 18 Mar 2013
Reviving the Health of Our DemocracyPolitical and constitutional reform has had a tough time of late but going into the next General Election has never been so important. Too often shoved into the ‘too difficult’ box, reform of our democratic...Posted 12 Mar 2013
Scottish Public want bigger voice in politicsLast week politicians in Scotland were queuing up to call for more power to be exercised at local level. But it seems our politicians are coming late to the party on localism. Today we launch the...Posted 12 Mar 2013
The 300 women ‘missing’ from Welsh public lifeIt’s International Women’s Day. And it seemed the right time to show just how badly women are faring in Welsh public life. Our Welsh Power Report assesses the levels of women across politics and public life,...Posted 07 Mar 2013
Leader of Edinburgh Council delighted with Single Transferable VoteAndrew Burns, Labour Leader of Edinburgh City Council On Thursday the 3rd May 2012, I was elected for the fourth time to represent a Ward within the City of Edinburgh Council area. It was a...Posted 28 Feb 2013
STV’s Second OutingIn 2007 Scotland began using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) for local government elections. The First Past the Post system – once used for all public elections in mainland Britain – was consigned to history....Posted 27 Feb 2013
Where are the women in local government?At first glance, UK local government statistics aren’t exactly the most exciting topic for a blog. But they’re really important as they give us an insight into gender and politics in the UK today. The...Posted 25 Feb 2013