£5.6 million to promote voter ID website that wasn’t live yetWe told the government that voter ID was a costly distraction. First, it was £55m for new A4 polling cards and envelopes. Then cash-strapped councils were forced to spend £1.3m on thousands of mirrors and...Posted 10 Jan 2023
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2022Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first...Posted 15 Dec 2022
Brown Commission reforms offer first blueprint for much-needed democratic renewalGordon Brown has now released A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy – the findings of his Commission into how to repair our political system. In publishing this report, Keir Starmer is...Posted 06 Dec 2022
Ed Davey – Let’s make the next general election the last fought under First Past the PostThis week we supported a panel with Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey, as part of a rescheduled conference event. The ERS attends all the major party conferences, but this year’s Liberal Democrat conference was cancelled...Posted 01 Dec 2022
Voter ID list gives few options for younger votersLong-awaited details of the government’s voter ID scheme have now finally been released including details of which IDs will be accepted at the polling station. With no alternatives for voters who turn up on the...Posted 11 Nov 2022
Don’t miss one of Scotland’s leading political experts in new annual lectureERS Scotland is hosting the inaugural State of Scottish Democracy lecture next week. The event takes place on Thursday 17th November, in Govan’s Pearce Institute, and will be addressed by Professor James Mitchell. The idea...Posted 11 Nov 2022
We’re calling for an inquiry into failing voter ID implementationLong before the Elections Act was passed last year, we warned about the issues that implementing photographic voter ID requirements would cause. From ensuring access to the free form of ID was easy for the...Posted 04 Nov 2022
Life-time appointments to Lords should not be handed out as rewards for failureA seat in the House of Lords is a lifetime appointment to make our laws, not a gift to be handed out by a prime minister as they head out the door. Yet the prime...Posted 01 Nov 2022
Cash-strapped councils to spend £1.3 million on 40,000 mirrors as part of voter ID schemeA parliamentary question has revealed yet more details of the government’s expensive scheme to demand ID at polling stations. Luke Pollard MP asked the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities how many mirrors would...Posted 01 Nov 2022
We need to reform our voting system to end the chaos of First Past the PostAs Liz Truss prepares to leave Downing Street, it’s clear where stability lies in the UK. Far from providing ‘Strong and Stable Government’, Britain’s First Past the Post political system has given us three prime...Posted 21 Oct 2022