ERS reveals the scale of secretive online campaigning during last year’s election Democracy in the Dark – our new report commissioned from two of the UK’s leading election finance academics reveals a major rise in online spending during the 2019 general election – with little transparency over... Posted 24 Sep 2020
The Citizen’s Assembly of Scotland can help shape our post-Covid future Scotland’s first Citizens’ Assembly met last week for the first time since March. Like many social events and workplaces, the deliberative body, made up of 100 citizens reflecting Scotland’s demographics, has moved online after being... Posted 23 Sep 2020
Campaigners unite to urge Labour party to back proportional representation A major new project has been launched to encourage the Labour party to back proportional representation. Posted 22 Sep 2020
Britain’s voter registration system is leaving millions on the sidelines They’ve been called the ‘missing millions’: over 9 million eligible people in Great Britain are currently not on the electoral roll. Posted 18 Sep 2020
Hereditary peer by-elections have been paused. They should be scrapped entirely The House of Lords just keeps getting bigger. Following the PM’s appointment of 36 new unelected peers, each week sees more introduced to a chamber that is bursting at the seams. The Lords themselves have... Posted 18 Sep 2020
It is possible to hold elections in a pandemic, but we have to start planning for them now This is a guest article from Sarah Birch, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Economy, King’s College London. Elections are by their nature complex logistical exercises. During a pandemic, holding an election will be... Posted 15 Sep 2020
What can we learn from the UK Climate Assembly? The UK’s first nationwide citizens’ assembly on climate change came to a close this week, with the launch of its final report setting out 50 recommendations on how the UK should reach net zero by... Posted 11 Sep 2020
Wales’ Parliament has long been under-resourced – it’s time to change that With just 60 elected members, Wales’ Parliament has long been under-resourced. But that problem has grown as Wales acquired more responsibilities – without the representatives needed to properly scrutinise legislation. Changes to the size of... Posted 11 Sep 2020
Voters have had enough of the unelected Lords. The PM and peers need to listen up The first of the Prime Minister’s 36 new appointments to the unelected House of Lords have started to take their seats. They do so at a time of growing public outrage at the state of... Posted 07 Sep 2020
ERS in the Press – August 2020 As governments respond to the global pandemic, the issue of how voters are represented has not gone away. In fact, in many ways, it has become more salient. PR in the public eye In August,... Posted 04 Sep 2020