Recent Articles

The Electoral Reform Society's article archive.

View by category

View by date

Ireland and blasphemy: Another landmark day for deliberative democracy

It sometimes seems that Ireland is having referendums every week – and today voters there are once again heading to the polls, almost exactly five months since their historic vote to repeal the country’s constitutional...

Posted 26 Oct 2018

4 things wrong with the latest ‘reform’ claims from the House of Lords…

If a new proclamation is to be believed, the UK’s unelected second chamber is apparently ‘on course’ to reduce in size, ‘within the timeframe set out’ in a report by a House of Lords committee...

Posted 25 Oct 2018

In 1951 more people voted Labour than Conservative, yet the Conservatives formed the government

The General Election on this day in 1951 couldn’t have been more decisive. Six years since Labour’s victory in 1945, and one year after their victory in 1950, the public was still behind Clement Attlee’s...

Posted 25 Oct 2018

Why we can’t leave our democracy at the whim of tech giants like Facebook

Another vote is never far away. But even outside of election time, campaigning rumbles on. Each day, a lot of cash is spent influencing political debate. These days though, that’s not just people delivering leaflets...

Posted 25 Oct 2018

We can’t leave political transparency to the whim of big tech firms: it’s time for a campaign overhaul

When an election is just around the corner, there are several tell-tale signs: politicians incessantly visiting factories, thousands of signs strapped to lampposts, and tensions mounting at the dinner table. And there are the flyers....

Posted 23 Oct 2018

Canada’s Prince Edward Island is looking again at fair voting

Two years ago, citizens of Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) – a Canadian province – took part in a non-binding plebiscite on whether to adopt a proportional voting system for the island. Voters – including, for...

Posted 23 Oct 2018

Voting opens in British Columbian electoral reform referendum

Attempts at electoral reform in British Columbia (B.C.) – Canada’s westernmost and third most populous province – date back more than 13 years. On Monday, voting opens on whether to scrap the all-or-nothing voting system...

Posted 22 Oct 2018

Is First Past the Post on its way out in Canada?

Around the world, countries that inherited a Westminster style of government from their former colonial rulers have been, one by one, democratising and reforming their systems. Australia and New Zealand, for instance, led the way...

Posted 18 Oct 2018

Votes for 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland, Wales… and overseas?

What connects people with Irish, Kiribatian or New Zealand passports? They can all vote in UK general elections if they have (or don’t need) leave to remain in the UK. Who votes in UK elections...

Posted 17 Oct 2018

50 years since fair votes’ defence in Ireland

This week marks the 50th anniversary of a major event in the Society’s history and the history of the campaign for fair votes. On 16 October 1968, Ireland held a referendum that would determine the...

Posted 15 Oct 2018