Time to Discuss Local Democracy in WalesA few weeks ago, Electoral Reform Society Wales gave evidence to the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee about the new Local Democracy Bill making its way through the National Assembly. Is the new Local...Posted 06 Feb 2013
ERS Scotland hosts event to put the public’s ideas to the testOn a chilly night in Edinburgh, ERS Scotland and the Public Policy Network at the University of Edinburgh held a participatory discussion on Scotland’s democracy in a lecture theatre. Not the ideal space for a...Posted 15 Jan 2013
Politics: the future is plural The question of whether it is possible to be both a pluralist and a tribalist in politics dominated the debate at last night’s launch of Labour for Democracy, a new network within the Labour...Posted 05 Dec 2012
16 days and counting to an election no one’s heard of…Another day, another disaster. We now hear that £350,000 worth of ballot papers are headed for the shredder. The farce that is the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections is continuing to thrill audiences across the country....Posted 30 Oct 2012
Does no means ‘No Change’ or ‘More Powers’?So we have a deal. We have a Yes/No question for a vote on Scottish Independence, and we can hardly contain our disappointment. This referendum has become a bit of a game with both sides intent...Posted 15 Oct 2012
Politics is too important to be left to the politiciansAs the first stage in a yearlong process to imagine what a ‘Good Scottish Democracy’ might look like we asked for volunteers to take part in a discussion about the future of Scotland Democracy. ...Posted 12 Oct 2012
50 days and counting to the election no one’s heard of…It’s 50 days and counting to the election no one’s heard of… We have been joined by candidates from across the political divide to call on Theresa May to tackle the rock bottom turnout predicted for...Posted 26 Sep 2012
Avoiding a politicians fix – more powers should be on the ballotMost people think it would be a good idea if the Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh could agree on the form of the Referendum on Scottish Independence. It would probably save all sorts of legal...Posted 21 Sep 2012
Cameron’s broken promise on Women’s representationWomen’s representation in government has always appeared to matter to the Prime Minister. Back in his 2005 acceptance speech as leader David Cameron spoke of the need to end the “scandalous under-representation of women” in...Posted 09 Sep 2012
Low turnout is a gift to candidates who have cash to spendFor some people, low turnout is an opportunity. In the last week we’ve gained enormous traction for our report that Police and Crime Commissioner elections are set for record low turnout – 18.5%, quite possibly the lowest...Posted 26 Aug 2012