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Electoral reform returns to the agenda in British Columbia

British Columbia, Canada’s most Western province, has often been the site of electoral reform intrigue. In the run-up to the 1952 provincial election the Conservative and Liberal parties tried to stop the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth...

Posted 18 May 2017

The drop in attainers on the electoral roll should worry us all

With a week to go before the cut off for registering to vote for the general election on June 8th, our research has shown that the proportion of school leavers on the electoral roll dropped...

Posted 17 May 2017

‘Progressive alliances’ shouldn’t be necessary: they’re product of a broken voting system

There’s a lot of talk about June 8th being the ‘tactical voting’ election. This past couple of weeks we’ve seen the latest symptom: parties doing the tactical voting on behalf of the electorate – weeks before...

Posted 08 May 2017

The next government must extend votes at 16 beyond Scotland

You might not have realised, but on Thursday, thousands of 16 and 17 year olds trekked to polling stations across the country to exercise their democratic right to vote. They went with the full support...

Posted 05 May 2017

Where are the women in May’s local election?

Since the Prime Minister’s unexpected announcement of a General Election last week there’s been little time to talk of anything else. Our 24 hour news cycle is now dominated by images of May, Corbyn et...

Posted 27 Apr 2017

Democracy, Diversity and English Devolution

The excitement of the general election aside, it’s important to remember that there are other important elections coming up – ones that have gone largely under the national radar. As well as important local elections...

Posted 19 Apr 2017

Deadline Day: Our Voter Registration System Needs An Overhaul

On the evening of the 7th June last year – just a couple of weeks before the EU referendum – the website to register to vote crashed. Cue havoc, thousands of disappointed and angry people, and...

Posted 13 Apr 2017

A month before polling day, nearly 100 candidates in Wales have already won

Voting is an essential part of democratic life – from Mayoral contests to Westminster elections. Yet in an alarming number of places next month, voters in Wales will be denied a vote. That’s not because...

Posted 11 Apr 2017

Fighting for fair votes around the world – lessons from the Global Greens Congress

Proportional representation has been a longstanding campaign of the Greens. But not just here in the UK – democratic reform is often a key plank of Green platforms. So it was fascinating to see leaders...

Posted 07 Apr 2017

How PR ‘completely transformed’ New Zealand politics: Metiria Turei, Green Party co-leader

In 1996, New Zealand introduced the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) voting system – a mixed FPTP and proportional list voting system. It was a big step forward for the fight for fair votes everywhere. I...

Posted 06 Apr 2017