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Making the case for electoral reform at Conservative Conference

As a non-partisan organisation, we attend all the major party conferences to make the case for electoral reform. There is a long history of electoral reform supporters in the Conservative Party, with Conservative Action for...

Posted 05 Oct 2023

Conservative Action for Electoral Reform

Welcome new bill will make it easier to vote in Wales

When it comes to democracy and elections in Wales, Bills are coming like buses! Just two weeks after the introduction of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill the Welsh Government laid it’s Elections and...

Posted 05 Oct 2023

These new proposals will remove barriers that many people face

Voter ID makes its unwelcome Scottish debut in Rutherglen and Hamilton West

If you live in Rutherglen and Hamilton West and are registered to vote, tomorrow is the day you can go vote in the long-awaited by-election. That is if you have, and remember to take, photo...

Posted 04 Oct 2023

The first time you have needed photo ID to vote in an election in Scotland

Lesley Riddoch’s State of Scottish Democracy lecture

Thank you to everyone who made it along to hear author and broadcaster, Lesley Riddoch, present the second of our annual ERS State of Scottish Democracy lecture. We are pleased to publish a video of...

Posted 28 Sep 2023

Support for electoral reform is strong at the Liberal Democrat’s 2023 conference

Heading to the Liberal Democrats’ 2023 conference in Bournemouth to promote electoral reform is not the hardest task I’ve been handed in my working life! Saying that, our task was more to find out if they...

Posted 28 Sep 2023

Electoral Commission estimate 8 million missing from electoral roll

This week, the Electoral Commission published a report highlighting how millions of people are missing from Britain’s electoral registers. The report details how up to 8 million people are not correctly registered and are at...

Posted 21 Sep 2023

We need UK-wide automatic voter registration

Welsh Government introduce Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Next year the Senedd will mark a quarter of a century since its establishment. For many of those 25 years it has been apparent that the Senedd is too small. At just 60 members the...

Posted 18 Sep 2023

Good scrutiny pays for itself and poor scrutiny leads to poor decisions going unchallenged

Voter ID rules criticised by MPs, election watchdog and election administrators

This week three separate independent reports have exposed the extent of the unnecessary damage voter ID has wrought to our democracy. Voter ID was rushed through for the local elections in May which meant voters...

Posted 15 Sep 2023

The Government needs to scrap this unnecessary and damaging policy

The Mid Bedfordshire by-election shows how First Past the Post warps our politics

It finally happened. After weeks of speculation and, more latterly, mounting criticism, Nadine Dorries officially resigned her seat in Mid Bedfordshire, triggering yet another by-election. Since the former culture secretary announced her resignation back before...

Posted 29 Aug 2023

Voting should be about Westminster clearly hearing the voice of the electorate

Short, long, or in-between: How long do parliaments last?

Regular elections are a core part of any democracy, but how regular should they be? There has been a lot of variety on what the right length is, both around the world and in the...

Posted 25 Aug 2023