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The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

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Our elections watchdog needs strengthening, not scrapping

You’d think given the rising tide of disinformation, dodgy donations and dark ads online, the government might be getting serious about empowering our elections watchdog. Instead, the Conservative Party has actually issued a call to...

Posted 03 Sep 2020

Abolishing the Electoral Commission would be a dangerous backwards step

Lebanon’s confessional system keeps change just out of reach

Josh Dell is a writer based in London, who has led on democracy projects for organisations including Bite The Ballot and The Politics Project. His work has been published in CityMetric, Left Foot Forward, and The Sunday...

Posted 02 Sep 2020

Most of us don’t agree with a single party across all issues

The ‘policy comparison’ tool Vote for Policies crunched the numbers from the 1.1 million responses to their pre-election survey in 2019. Vote for Policies’ Matt Chocqueel-Mangan explains their findings. This is an edited version of...

Posted 17 Aug 2020

one party is rarely representative of our preferences

Revealed: The true cost of Britain’s silent peers

There are many perks to being a member of the House of Lords. While many peers do work hard, it seems one of the perks is being able to claim expenses for doing very little....

Posted 17 Aug 2020

Scotland’s loophole ridden lobbying laws are in need of an urgent upgrade

Wealth and power can get people access and influence that normal citizens can only imagine. It is, after all, why lobbying is a multi-million pound industry. That's why transparency is so vital.

Posted 17 Aug 2020

Political parties – what are your plans to make a more diverse Senedd?

On first glance, the Senedd might appear relatively diverse for a political institution in the UK. It made headlines in 2003 when it became the first legislative body in the world to have 50% women....

Posted 17 Aug 2020

Party leaders must take responsibility for ensuring greater diversity

Britain moves closer to shutting down ‘dark ads’ – but we need action now

The government has today unveiled new proposals that would require parties and political campaigners to display a digital imprint on online political advertisements. This would bring online ads in line with offline election material, which...

Posted 12 Aug 2020

ERS in the Press – July 2020

Another Lords scandal, fighting for fair votes, and a spotlight on foreign interference: highlights from the ERS' campaigning in July.

Posted 10 Aug 2020

The unelected House of Lords is undermining Britain’s reputation

Britain's ability to speak up for democracy abroad has just taken a major self-inflicted hit.

Posted 06 Aug 2020

Ed Davey MP: Westminster needs comprehensive reform – including proportional representation for voters

The Electoral Reform Society offers a space to party leadership candidates to put forward their visions for democracy during internal elections. This is a piece from Ed Davey MP, who is running to be leader...

Posted 04 Aug 2020