Candidate selections reflect the barriers for women in politicsLast week, all UK political parties confirmed which candidates they were standing in each constituency for the 2024 general election. Including independents, a total of 4,515 candidates will be fighting for a seat in the...Posted 20 Jun 2024
Manifestos outside the big two parties: Putting democracy on the agendaLast week we looked at the sections of the Labour and Conservative manifestos that touched on democracy-related issues. This week, we turn our attention to the other parties that are standing candidates in virtually all...Posted 19 Jun 2024
What does a super-majority mean and is it something we should worry about?In the last week, the current defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has been appearing in the news to warn about the supposed dangers of a Labour ‘super-majority’. He told Times Radio “You don’t want to have...Posted 18 Jun 2024
Labour manifesto: Encouraging first steps – but we need to address rock bottom trust in politicsThis week we had startling and deeply concerning news about the state of our democracy. A study from the National Centre for Social Research concluded that: ‘All in all, it appears that people’s trust in...Posted 13 Jun 2024
Conservative manifesto: Missing pledges to improve our democracyThe launch of the Conservative manifesto yesterday was conspicuously light on democratic policy with little mention by way of reforms desperately needed to strengthen our democracy. Voter ID Policy The Conservatives made only one proposal...Posted 13 Jun 2024
Over 100 seats haven’t changed hands for 100 years or moreWe often hear that politics is unpredictable, that anything can happen in the upcoming election – but the reality is that hundreds of seats across the country haven’t changed hands in decades. While the MP...Posted 03 Jun 2024
Could this be the last general election that excludes 16 and 17 year olds?At the Electoral Reform Society, we have long been advocates of extending the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in general elections. So, we were pleased to see that, when asked on the campaign...Posted 29 May 2024
Imposing First Past the Post on these roles was a mistakeThe recent mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections took place under a First Past the Post (FPTP) system, where people are able to put just one ‘X’ on their ballot – choosing only one...Posted 15 May 2024
First Past the Post means 100,000 Welsh voters were denied a say in the last local electionsLocal elections are an important part of democracy in Wales. But did you know that thousands of voters have a councillor that nobody voted for at all? Due to the Westminster-style First Past the Post...Posted 15 May 2024
Four steps to protect our elections from AI interferenceI recently co-signed a letter with a host of leading third-sector organisations, as well as consumer champion Martin Lewis and Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, calling on political parties to agree a set of guidelines and...Posted 09 May 2024