News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

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ERS in the Press: March 2021

The warping effects of First Past the Post were in the news again this month, with the Times’ Patrick Maguire penning a piece on the ‘one-party fiefdoms’ that plague our politics. Darren Hughes, responded with...

Posted 15 Apr 2021

pile of newspapers

Only real local democracy can rebuild our communities

The last twelve months have changed the way many of us think about our everyday lives. The lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic have made the world feel smaller and turned many people’s minds to a...

Posted 09 Apr 2021

The average Scottish local authority is 50 times bigger than the EU average

How May’s London Assembly elections will work

This May, millions of Londoners will go to the polls to vote for the Mayor and the London Assembly. The London Assembly is the political body that holds the mayor to account and scrutinises their...

Posted 07 Apr 2021

The London-wide vote compensates for the warping effects of First Past the Post

England is blighted by local one party states

England is blighted by local one-party states: areas where it too often feels like only one party can win, where parties control nearly all the seats – and where scrutiny is a shadow of what...

Posted 01 Apr 2021

Proportional representation is vital to provide the effective scrutiny that councils need

How elections for the Mayor of London will work

On May 6, one year after elections were supposed to be held, more than six million Londoners will be called to the polling stations to elect their mayor (alongside 25 members of the London Assembly)...

Posted 01 Apr 2021

London’s Mayor will be elected using the Supplementary Vote making more votes matter