Why voting isn’t like drinking or smokingI’m pretty glad that 12-year-olds aren’t allowed to drive buses. We have age restrictions on many things for pretty good reasons in the UK, and preventing children from careering down the high street in a...Posted 19 Jan 2026
Why First Past the Post leaves most of us without voice in parliamentWe live in a country where each constituency has a single MP. Yet for most people this means the MP who “represents” them in parliament doesn’t share their politics, didn’t win a majority of the...Posted 15 Jan 2026
British public strongly back caps on donations to political partiesPolling published in the last few weeks reveals that the British public are worried about the influence of money in politics, with a majority wanting to see the introduction of caps on donations to political parties. A Survation poll, conducted between 9-11...Posted 13 Jan 2026
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2025As the year draws to an end, we’ve had a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with you, our supporters. So if you missed them the first...Posted 17 Dec 2025
Lords-a-delaying? How our unelected chamber is stalling for timeIt’s beginning to look a lot like… a hold up? In recent months, several government bills have been facing extended scrutiny in the House of Lords. While careful examination of legislation is an important part...Posted 16 Dec 2025
Latest peerages mean government has replaced the hereditary peers – before they’ve even left the LordsKeir Starmer himself not long ago described the wholly unelected and grossly bloated House of Lords as ‘indefensible’. Nothing has changed since then so it was deeply disappointing to see even more peers being stuffed...Posted 11 Dec 2025
How First Past the Post turns politics into tribal warfarePoll after poll and headline after headline in the U.K may leave you with the impression of a country more divided than ever. This is never more obvious than in the seemingly daily polling notifications....Posted 10 Dec 2025
2025 at the ERS: Our work in Scotland and WalesEach year we write an Annual Review which looks back at our achievements across the last 12 months, and explains how our team have campaigned towards securing our vision for a democracy fit for the...Posted 09 Dec 2025
2025 at the ERS: Our research making the case for democratic reformEach year we write an Annual Review which looks back at our achievements across the last 12 months, and explains how our team have campaigned towards securing our vision for a democracy fit for the...Posted 05 Dec 2025
Legislative battles are renewing the focus on Westminster’s unelected upper chamberA common argument from defenders of the unelected Lords is that ministers should dedicate the entirety of their time to bread and butter policies that more immediately impact voters. The implicit basis here is that...Posted 04 Dec 2025