News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

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Only real local democracy can rebuild our communities

The last twelve months have changed the way many of us think about our everyday lives. The lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic have made the world feel smaller and turned many people’s minds to a...

Posted 09 Apr 2021

The average Scottish local authority is 50 times bigger than the EU average

Scotland’s local democracy is not an optional extra

The experience of the covid-19 crisis has served to underline and strengthen the case ERS Scotland has long been making for a revamped local democracy. The work undertaken in recent years – alongside a range...

Posted 14 Jan 2021

Thriving, empowered communities develop the foundations for long term prosperity

Scottish House of Citizens

The Citizens' Assembly of Scotland proposed an idea that could ensure all of Scotland is reflected in Holyrood - a permanent citizens' assembly, or 'House of Citizens'.

Posted 04 Jan 2021

Constitutional Convention

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

House of Lords

It’s time to put deliberation at the heart of Scottish politics

Last Saturday the final session of the Citizen’s Assembly of Scotland concluded. The assembly, the largest deliberative event in Scotland’s history brought together ordinary people to deliberate over the issues that will shape Scotland. As...

Posted 12 Dec 2020

A House of Citizens could revolutionise Scottish democracy