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Manifesto for Democracy: Deepening Democracy

Democracy is about empowering citizens to be involved in their political system and as such embedding the voices of everyday citizens into those systems is vital to democracy that works. Without it we risk not...

Posted 30 Oct 2020

ERS in the Press – October 2020

This month has seen a renewed interest in proportional representation internationally. Willie Sullivan backed up the case for a fairer voting system in Canada, drawing on his experience in Scotland. “If you want a system...

Posted 29 Oct 2020

As the Scottish Government closes the ‘dark ads’ loophole, Westminster must follow suit

For too long now, online political campaigning in Britain has gone effectively unregulated – to the benefit of well-funded, secretive groups, and to the detriment of voters. Despite the rapid rise of online political ads as a campaign tool, governments...

Posted 29 Oct 2020

2019 must be the last election with voters left in the dark

Manifesto for Democracy: Education for the future

Education is key to ensuring that newly enfranchised voters understand the system they can now have a voice in. That 16 and 17 year olds in Wales can now vote in Senedd elections offers us...

Posted 29 Oct 2020

Manifesto for democracy: A Stronger Senedd

The Senedd looks very different to when it was first conceived in 1999. Ongoing devolution has meant more powers are held in Cardiff Bay – including primary law-making powers and tax-varying powers that create a...

Posted 23 Oct 2020

Tackling online harms to our democracy must be a priority

Last week, the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee criticised the government for its repeated delays in publishing legislation to tackle online harms. In a statement calling for urgent action, committee...

Posted 20 Oct 2020

The white paper makes scant references to online harms to our democracy

Democracy and ‘deterrence’: How out-of-date campaign rules leave the door open to turnout suppression

Presidential elections tend to highlight the best and worst of US democracy. In 2016, for instance, the winner of the popular vote did not win the election, due to the electoral college system – a...

Posted 20 Oct 2020

Elections should be about winning voters, not make them give up on voting entirely

Does PR mean coalitions? As New Zealand shows – it’s all down to the voters

The New Zealand Labour party are celebrating a landslide win, with 49 percent of the vote and enough MPs to form a single-party government on their own. This is the first time since New Zealand...

Posted 20 Oct 2020

With PR if people want a single-party majority they get one

Voters risk being locked out – unless this crucial change is made

When the ‘virtual Parliament’ was launched at the end of April, the UK was witnessing around 5,000 new coronavirus cases a day. The first wave subsided. But now, we are seeing over 15,000 new cases...

Posted 20 Oct 2020

With different restrictions around the UK, refusing remote participation hits some voters harder than others

This simple change could help bring in the ‘missing millions’

Rather than putting up bureaucratic barriers to engaging with politics, we should be ensuring everyone can use their vote.

Posted 15 Oct 2020