Are there whips in the House of Lords?From 1990s TV series House of Cards to James Graham’s play This House, the role of the Whip in British politics has long been a source of fascination. While much is said of Whips in...Posted 17 Feb 2023
Brown Commission reforms offer first blueprint for much-needed democratic renewalGordon Brown has now released A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy – the findings of his Commission into how to repair our political system. In publishing this report, Keir Starmer is...Posted 06 Dec 2022
Life-time appointments to Lords should not be handed out as rewards for failureA seat in the House of Lords is a lifetime appointment to make our laws, not a gift to be handed out by a prime minister as they head out the door. Yet the prime...Posted 01 Nov 2022
A majority of people oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peersOur new polling has found that the majority of people (54%) oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers just weeks before he leaves office. Some prime ministers appoint a group of...Posted 16 Aug 2022
It’s time to scrap the tradition of resignation honoursBoris Johnson cannot be allowed to use his final days in power to pack the Lords with his supporters and allies. Boris Johnson’s days in Downing Street are numbered but that hasn’t stopped him planning...Posted 29 Jul 2022
Johnson’s resignation honours list will last a lifetimeWith the Prime Minister set to exit Downing Street in the near future, attention has turned to who’s staying behind: his resignation honours list. It is tradition for departing PMs to create new life peerages...Posted 28 Jul 2022
Two aristocrats have won the right to make laws for life with just 27 votesJust weeks after 70,000 people cast their votes to elect two new MPs in the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections, two hereditary peers were gifted the life-long right to make the laws we all...Posted 07 Jul 2022
For local democracy to flourish our representatives need the power to deliverNew ERS research finds over two-thirds of councillors feel they lack the powers to represent the needs of their local community. Local government is at the front line of our democracy. It’s the closest level...Posted 10 Mar 2022
Democracy Made in England: Where Next for English Local Government?In the context of the changing nature of UK governance, England remains an anomaly. While the centres of power in the rest of the UK have shifted away from Westminster over the last two decades,...Posted 09 Mar 2022
ERS in the Press: January 2022Scandal and crisis at the heart of government have dominated the news as we begin 2022. Yet in a packed news cycle of covid regulation breaking parties in Downing Street, and a pantomime-esque will-they-won’t-they over...Posted 04 Feb 2022