Building a better democracy – 2020 and the Electoral Reform SocietyIt’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 planThis 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
Welsh Parliament to vote on letting councils scrap first past the postLocal 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 GovernmentLocal 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 councilsNew 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 AssemblyThis 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
Deepening democracy with Scotland’s Local Democracy BillDemocracy isn’t static, it is a process. It isn’t always simple or easy, and today it is being tested under the strain of a crisis of trust, one which affects political institutions, the public square...Posted 30 Mar 2020
Where is proportional representation used in the UK?Westminster’s voting system is well and truly broken. The system with which we elect our MPs is struggling to produce fair and representative results. The 2017 General Election showed that, for the third time in a...Posted 05 Nov 2019