Is the government’s Online Harms Bill fit for purpose? By Akash Thiara, a Placement Student with the Electoral Reform Society from the University of Nottingham. After a long delay, the government has finally released plans to tackle ‘online harms’. The online harms bill, which... Posted 04 Jan 2021
Replace Lords with a senate of the regions to help ‘level up’ Overhauling Parliament’s London-dominated second chamber would help empower the UK’s nations and regions, writes a senior director at the Electoral Reform Society. It’s been a year since Boris Johnson’s victory in the 2019 general election,... Posted 22 Dec 2020
Labour MPs call on party in Westminster to back electoral reform after Wales’ Senedd backs change Labour MPs from across the party have called on the leadership to back reform to Westminster’s ‘broken voting system’ after the Labour-led administration in Cardiff passed legislation introducing STV for local government elections across Wales.... Posted 20 Dec 2020
What we’ve learnt about the government’s ‘Democracy Commission’ By Akash Thiara, a Placement Student with the Electoral Reform Society from the University of Nottingham. It has been a year since the last general election and, the Conservative party pledged it would set up... Posted 18 Dec 2020
Shock Parliamentary survey results highlights calls for electoral reform By Akash Thiara, a Placement Student with the Electoral Reform Society from the University of Nottingham. A survey conducted by the House of Commons’ Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC) asked people what... Posted 15 Dec 2020
YouGov study reveals the stark levels of discontent with Westminster By Akash Thiara, a Placement Student with the Electoral Reform Society from the University of Nottingham. Last week, polling firm YouGov released a wide-ranging study on democracy and its perception amongst Britons – and it... Posted 11 Dec 2020
One year on from the General Election: What we’ve learnt about Westminster’s warped voting system A year ago this Saturday, the polls opened on the first December election for over ninety years. At the time this felt like an unusual bookend to an unusual parliamentary term, which had culminated in... Posted 11 Dec 2020
MPs in joint call to ‘protect and strengthen’ the Electoral Commission, 20 years after its foundation This week marks 20 years since the Electoral Commission was founded. It’s a time for celebration of its successes but also a time to look to its future. That’s why former Digital, Culture, Media and... Posted 04 Dec 2020
ERS in the Press – November 2020 In a month dominated by coronavirus and a second national lockdown in England as well as Brexit negotiations, democratic issues have still been in the news and we’ve continued to be at the forefront of... Posted 02 Dec 2020
Happy birthday to the Electoral Commission – now let’s give it the powers it needs This Monday marks 20 years since the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 received Royal Assent. It was an act which set up the Electoral Commission, the UK’s independent elections watchdog – and tackled... Posted 30 Nov 2020