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The government are using dirty tricks to cut our elected MPs

In the committee room corridors at the Palace of Westminster, the government’s conduct around the ongoing review of constituency boundaries is drawing cross-party criticism. The government’s official response to Parliament’s concerns fails to address any...

Posted 01 Jun 2018

Without urgent action, Britain’s super-sized second chamber is going to get even bigger

It’s already the second largest chamber in the world – but it’s about to get bigger. The House of Lords will be ‘bursting at the seams’ with more than 1,000 members by 2031, if its current...

Posted 30 May 2018

The Irish abortion referendum: How a Citizens’ Assembly helped to break years of political deadlock

In a historic referendum on Friday, the Irish electorate voted with a resounding Yes in favour of removing the Eighth Amendment (article 40.3.3) from the Constitution. Citizens were asked whether or not to replace the...

Posted 29 May 2018

The government tried to bury news on the bloated House of Lords. Here’s the facts…

“Theresa May backs bid to cut the size of House of Lords” began a headline in February. It seems that three months is a lifetime in politics… Over the weekend, the PM attempted to bury...

Posted 22 May 2018

Britain’s democratic farce: This is how the upcoming ‘hereditary by-election’ will work

Last week, there was a rather hushed announcement in parliament: a resignation among the Lords. A peer has decided to retire. No big news usually, but this is no ordinary peerage. Nor will it be an ordinary...

Posted 16 May 2018

No more filibustering – why the government should get behind a fairer franchise

Scotland has it, Wales is getting it, and more and more politicians are calling for it in England. Yet on Friday, a handful of MPs prevented legislation on votes at 16 going to the next...

Posted 15 May 2018

With cross-party support, we can secure a fair franchise for young people

Today MPs will debate a bill which could step our democracy up a gear. Dr Peter Kyle’s Representation of the People (Young People’s Enfranchisement) Bill would extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. But whereas many bills...

Posted 11 May 2018

When getting the most votes isn’t enough – England’s 2018 local elections

Last week’s local elections were a textbook lesson in why we need to change the way we elect our local councils. From the wrong party winning, to councils with zero scrutiny, using Westminster’s voting system...

Posted 09 May 2018

If you didn’t already think the voter ID trial was a mess, you will after reading this

The government’s rationale for its ill-considered Voter ID pilots was to tackle “electoral fraud” – a criminal offence of which allegations are rightly investigated by the police. So it doesn’t look good for the government...

Posted 08 May 2018

A new report shows we need urgent action to revive our democracy

For the past fifteen years, the Hansard Society – a thinktank which promotes parliamentary democracy – has published its Audit of Political Engagement. The Audit is an attempt to measure the level of engagement of...

Posted 01 May 2018