Recent Articles

Explore the Electoral Reform Society's home for articles and insights, or scroll through the Society's article archive below.

View by category

View by date

Scotland’s local democracy is not an optional extra

The experience of the covid-19 crisis has served to underline and strengthen the case ERS Scotland has long been making for a revamped local democracy. The work undertaken in recent years – alongside a range...

Posted 14 Jan 2021

Democracy delayed? Voters and officials need clarity now on England’s May elections

Toby James, University of East Anglia and Alistair Clark, Newcastle University Which activities are essential during a pandemic? Across England, school buildings have been closed, as have many shops, businesses and sports facilities. So what...

Posted 08 Jan 2021

Urgent and decisive action is needed immediately

Building a better democracy – 2020 and the Electoral Reform Society

It’s hard to think of a more troubling year in living memory. But the public health crisis has, perhaps counter-intuitively, put issues of democracy at the forefront. The election may feel like a distant memory,...

Posted 07 Dec 2020

Boris Johnson might not like devolution but it’s vital for his levelling up plan

This article was originally published on inews.co.uk. You could dismiss the comments as classic Boris Johnson bluster. But they vocalise what the views of too many in Westminster when it comes to the devolved nations....

Posted 27 Nov 2020

the Prime Minister should be exploring new ways to give power to local communities

Welsh Parliament to vote on letting councils scrap first past the post

Local government is one of our most important layers of representation, delivering everyday frontline services such as social care and waste collection. Yet, for many people local government doesn’t feel that representative and that’s because...

Posted 17 Nov 2020

Manifesto for Democracy: Modernising Local Government

Local government in Wales is all too often ‘pale, male and stale’ – uncontested seats are widespread and incumbent councillors are often favoured by the current First Past The Post system. We need electoral reform...

Posted 26 Oct 2020

New research reveals BME people severely under-represented on local councils

New research has revealed a significant ‘representation gap’ when it comes to diversity at a local level.

Posted 09 Jul 2020

Could a citizens’ assembly help set out a post-pandemic recovery plan for Wales?

ERS Cymru has advocated for the use of deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies for many years. But it’s an idea that has renewed importance when it comes to the Covid pandemic.

Posted 09 Jul 2020

Fairer results and real representation: 20 years of PR on the London Assembly

This week marks 20 years since AMS was first used to elect the London Assembly. How has it fared?

Posted 04 May 2020

Looking back at a decade of proportional representation for local elections in Scotland

"When we now come to use Westminster’s one-person-takes-all system in Scotland, it seems perverse and unwieldly."

Posted 04 May 2020