Does no means ‘No Change’ or ‘More Powers’?So we have a deal. We have a Yes/No question for a vote on Scottish Independence, and we can hardly contain our disappointment. This referendum has become a bit of a game with both sides intent...Posted 15 Oct 2012
Politics is too important to be left to the politiciansAs the first stage in a yearlong process to imagine what a ‘Good Scottish Democracy’ might look like we asked for volunteers to take part in a discussion about the future of Scotland Democracy. ...Posted 12 Oct 2012
50 days and counting to the election no one’s heard of…It’s 50 days and counting to the election no one’s heard of… We have been joined by candidates from across the political divide to call on Theresa May to tackle the rock bottom turnout predicted for...Posted 26 Sep 2012
Avoiding a politicians fix – more powers should be on the ballotMost people think it would be a good idea if the Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh could agree on the form of the Referendum on Scottish Independence. It would probably save all sorts of legal...Posted 21 Sep 2012
Cameron’s broken promise on Women’s representationWomen’s representation in government has always appeared to matter to the Prime Minister. Back in his 2005 acceptance speech as leader David Cameron spoke of the need to end the “scandalous under-representation of women” in...Posted 09 Sep 2012
Low turnout is a gift to candidates who have cash to spendFor some people, low turnout is an opportunity. In the last week we’ve gained enormous traction for our report that Police and Crime Commissioner elections are set for record low turnout – 18.5%, quite possibly the lowest...Posted 26 Aug 2012
Lords Reform: A failure for Britain’s political classAnd so it’s come to pass. After all the gossip the government has finally withdrawn the House of Lords Reform bill. This isn’t about the failure of one party, one government or one bill, but of...Posted 06 Aug 2012
Playing pass the parcel on turnoutOn May 3 2012 Scotland went to the polls. We’d like to tell you precisely how many Scots actually went to vote, but the honest answer is we can’t. And that’s because no one knows...Posted 26 Jul 2012
Between apathy and hope – your chance to give yourself something to vote for!Peter Lesniak, Director of Communications, Bite the Ballot George Jean Nathan said a hundred yeas ago that ‘bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote’. This statement is as true today as...Posted 24 Jul 2012
A bold step forward for women’s representationIreland currently ranks 87 in the world for gender representation in politics with just 15.1% of Irish parliamentarians being women. This means in the world league tables Ireland lags behind Iraq, Burkina Faso and Turkmenistan...Posted 23 Jul 2012