England, give young people the vote like your neighboursIf you were a 16 or 17-year-old is Scotland, you probably felt quite annoyed at being left out of December’s General Election. If it had been a Scottish Parliament or Local Council Election you would have...Posted 29 Jan 2020
What we learnt from the ERS / Open Labour leadership hustingsLabour’s leadership candidates backed a range of constitutional reforms at Sunday’s joint Open Labour/Electoral Reform Society hustings, as they were challenged on how to fix Britain’s broken political system. When asked about their views on...Posted 27 Jan 2020
Keir (Hardie) was a strong supporter of electoral reformLabour, from its beginnings 100 years ago has promoted democratic reform. Keir Hardie was a supporter of the Electoral Reform Society (then called the Proportional Representation Society). Hardie, a leading Scottish socialist, helped found the...Posted 24 Jan 2020
It will take more than moving the Lords up north to mend our broken politicsThe phrase ‘moving the deckchairs’ has never felt so apt. Over the weekend, we learnt that Boris Johnson is mulling plans to move the House of Lords permanently to York. Or maybe Birmingham. Speaking of...Posted 23 Jan 2020
Italian far-right fail to bring in First Past the PostOn Thursday last week, Italy’s Constitutional Court rejected a request by the far-right League Party to hold a referendum to impose Westminster style First Past the Post (FPTP) for elections to both the Chamber of Deputies...Posted 21 Jan 2020
The campaign for a fairer franchise just secured a major victory16 and 17 year olds in Wales have officially secured the right to vote for Senedd elections, after a crucial piece of legislation received Royal Assent on Wednesday. 16 and 17 year olds in Wales...Posted 15 Jan 2020
How do Labour Party leadership elections work?The Labour Party leadership election formally kicked off this week as nominations for the next leader of the party opened for MPs. The party have published a list of nominations as they come in, updating...Posted 09 Jan 2020
9 things you need to know about the 2019 General ElectionYou probably heard a lot about the number of seats parties won (and lost) in December’s General Election. What was less prominent was just how poorly the results reflected how people actually voted. The ERS...Posted 24 Dec 2019
ERS in the Press: 2019’s electoral reform news roundupAs the year draws to a close, here’s a snapshot of some of the work we’ve been doing at the ERS to put real political reform on the agenda in 2019. January We kicked off...Posted 23 Dec 2019
Electoral Registration Officers – the Runnymede Trust want to hear from youThis is a guest post from Dr Zubaida Haque, the Deputy Director of the Runnymede Trust. There are over 8 million black and ethnic minority people in Britain, yet research from the Electoral Commission suggests that...Posted 20 Dec 2019