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Victory as Ceredigion joins Powys and Gwynedd with STV consultation

There was fantastic news for voters coming out of Ceredigion last week, as their County Council voted YES to a public consultation on scrapping First Past the Post for their elections and bringing in the...

Posted 25 Mar 2024

The Single Transferable Vote is a tried and tested system

European local government: New ideas of decentralisation in a changing world

I was delighted to be asked to moderate the main Plenary Session of the 9th Annual Congress on European Local Government in Poland last week to discuss ‘New Ideas of Decentralisation in a Changing World’....

Posted 12 Mar 2024

At 35% we still have a long way to go on women’s representation

It’s been over a hundred years since some women won the right to stand as MPs and vote in 1918. But women only won the vote on the same terms as men in 1928, and...

Posted 08 Mar 2024

In the whole history of our democracy, we haven’t elected enough women as MPs to even fill the House of Commons

Pursuing parity: New report examines gender quotas across different electoral systems

Throughout history, the political landscape of the United Kingdom has been predominantly shaped and governed by men. The struggle towards gender parity across the United Kingdom has been fought tirelessly throughout the 20th century. Women...

Posted 08 Mar 2024

Peter Mandelson should save his slimming tips for the House of Lords

Lord Peter Mandelson found himself in the headlines a couple of times this week. Firstly, when he criticised Labour’s plans to scrap the unelected Lords and replace it with an elected chamber that better represents...

Posted 07 Mar 2024

Only Chinas rubber stamping National Peoples Congress is larger than the Lords

Who invented the Single Transferable Vote?

The Electoral Reform Society has long held up the Single Transferable Vote as the gold standard for proportional representation. It’s a way of electing our representatives that produces a proportional chamber, and hands power to...

Posted 06 Mar 2024

We have long held up the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the gold standard for proportional representation

Vote splitting trick won’t work with Scotland’s Single Transferable Vote

On March 7th voters in Hillhead in Glasgow will be heading to the polls for a council by-election. Among those standing are candidates from the Scottish Greens and Independent Green Voice (IGV) – plenty of...

Posted 04 Mar 2024

Independent Green Voice is far from what you might expect from the name

ERS Scotland make the case for democratic reform at Scottish Labour conference

Along with Labour For a New Democracy, we were at last weekend’s Scottish Labour conference to talk to attendees, as well as co-sponsor a well-attended fringe event. Under the title, Westminster Isn’t Working: How Can...

Posted 20 Feb 2024

A future Labour government would be right to use Citizens’ Assemblies

This morning it was revealed in The Times that Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff and former leading Civil Servant, is considering the use of Citizens’ Assemblies. Gray made the comments by referring to...

Posted 19 Feb 2024

If politicians want us to trust them they should also trust our judgement

Why an elected second chamber won’t lead to gridlock

Looking across the Atlantic at America’s Senate, it’s clear why concerns are often expressed that an elected second chamber may challenge the primacy of the House of Commons and at the extreme end, result in...

Posted 19 Feb 2024