IWD: Why proportional representation can be a driving force for political equalityA driving force for most people who believe in electoral reform is the belief that seats should match votes and that the broad and diverse communities that make up the United Kingdom should have their...Posted 08 Mar 2022
International Women’s Day: How Westminster’s voting system is holding back gender equalityWhat’s clear is that Westminster’s out-dated structures aren’t allowing the fair representation Britain needs. That’s bad news for everyone.Posted 08 Mar 2021
Building a better democracy – 2020 and the Electoral Reform SocietyIt’s hard to think of a more troubling year in living memory. But the public health crisis has, perhaps counter-intuitively, put issues of democracy at the forefront. The election may feel like a distant memory,...Posted 07 Dec 2020
Government must do more to ‘level up politics’ for women and minoritiesDespite some gains in the last general election, women and minority groups remain highly under-represented in politics, according to a new report ‘Data Drives Diversity’ published by the Centenary Action Group. Despite the 2019 parliament...Posted 05 Oct 2020
Political parties – what are your plans to make a more diverse Senedd?On first glance, the Senedd might appear relatively diverse for a political institution in the UK. It made headlines in 2003 when it became the first legislative body in the world to have 50% women....Posted 17 Aug 2020
10 years since the Equality Act was introduced, parties need to come clean on diversityIt has been 10 years since the Equality Act (2010) received Royal Assent, providing Britain with a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. Sadly, not all of...Posted 08 Apr 2020
What we learnt from the ERS / Open Labour leadership hustingsLabour’s leadership candidates backed a range of constitutional reforms at Sunday’s joint Open Labour/Electoral Reform Society hustings, as they were challenged on how to fix Britain’s broken political system. When asked about their views on...Posted 27 Jan 2020
Policies for a fairer politics: How we can fix a broken systemThis election, the political system is more distrusted by voters than it has been for years. It’s not hard to see why. The sense that people do not feel ‘heard’ is growing: an ERS poll...Posted 08 Nov 2019
Euro elections show how Westminster’s first past the post holds back womenElections to the European Parliament take place today across the UK. As we’ve talked about in a previous blog post, the UK’s 73 MEPs will be elected using proportional representation (PR). In Great Britain, the...Posted 23 May 2019
Political parties need to stand more women candidates to close the political gender gapThere can be no doubt that in order to see more women elected to our political institutions, political parties need to stand more women candidates. Yet there is no official information on the diversity of...Posted 08 Mar 2019