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ERS Scotland: Our plans for the years ahead

At ERS Scotland we are constantly monitoring the political seas and updating our course to make sure we have the proper heading. Following this year’s local elections, the elections to the Scottish Parliament in 2021,...

Posted 24 May 2022

Much more can be achieved to build a Scottish democracy fit for the the 21st Century

The Elections Bill could open the floodgates on party funding

We’ve spoken a lot about the danger of the Elections Bill, which returned to the House of Lords today. From wasting £180 million a year on an intrusive ID card scheme for voting, to hobbling...

Posted 23 Feb 2022

The Elections Bill paves the way for foreign interests to influence our politics

What is the Elections Bill? And why is it an issue?

Earlier this month, the government published its long-awaited Elections Bill which makes changes to the administration and conduct of elections with the stated aim of ensuring that ‘UK elections remain secure, fair, modern, inclusive and...

Posted 23 Jul 2021

The bill fails to tackle the fundamental issues with our electoral law

How can we better regulate our elections?

Earlier this month, buried amidst the many reactions to the government’s Elections Bill, the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) published its report on regulating election finance, following a year-long inquiry to which we...

Posted 20 Jul 2021

If the government really wants to improve the integrity of our elections, they should consider the findings of the CSPL

Greensill 2.0: Is the next lobbying scandal brewing in the House of Lords?

Posted 16 Apr 2021

Scotland’s loophole ridden lobbying laws are in need of an urgent upgrade

Wealth and power can get people access and influence that normal citizens can only imagine. It is, after all, why lobbying is a multi-million pound industry. That's why transparency is so vital.

Posted 17 Aug 2020

Russia report highlights risk of foreign interference in House of Lords

"It is notable that a number of Members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia."

Posted 22 Jul 2020

Dark ads and dodgy donors: How the Queen’s Speech missed a chance to protect our democracy

There was a conspicuous silence in the Queen’s Speech on Monday. Despite announcing a bill to protect ‘electoral integrity’ (by making it harder for us all to vote), there was inaction on updating Britain’s outdated...

Posted 18 Oct 2019

A new all-party group has been launched to update Britain’s ‘wild west’ election campaign rules

As we get closer to the European elections, here’s a worrying fact: our elections are currently wide open to foreign interference and dodgy campaigning. Election rules in the UK haven’t been updated since the year...

Posted 15 May 2019

ERS in the Press – March 2019

Brexit might be dominating the news, but the rolling constitutional crisis that we call Westminster is still up to its usual tricks. We’ve spent the last month getting press attention for some of our biggest...

Posted 29 Mar 2019