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Voter ID checks threaten to suppress voter rights ‘on industrial scale’

The Windrush scandal showed what can happen when millions of people who lack ID are shut out by Government. But the announcement in the Queen’s Speech proposing mandatory voter ID checks means there’s a risk of repeating those...

Posted 15 Oct 2019

The movement for an overhaul of Britain’s broken constitution is growing

On Sunday, former Brexit Secretary David Davis wrote an important piece in the Times arguing that ‘Brexit is the writing on the wall for our democracy’. He points out that recent constitutional chaos has shown...

Posted 10 Oct 2019

Tiny shifts in votes can upset an avalanche of seats, with no relation between the national vote and number of seats won

Campaigners are stepping up calls for a ‘Constitutional Convention’ on Britain’s democracy

Whichever side of the Brexit debate people are on, one feeling is clear: voters feel disenfranchised and frustrated at Westminster’s chaotic handling of the Brexit process. One result of the suspension of Parliament in September...

Posted 09 Oct 2019

The gentlemen’s agreements that have propped up how Parliament works have totally broken down

There’s a glaring threat facing the next General Election: the ‘missing millions’

You don’t have to opt in to your right to free speech. So why do we have to opt in to our right to vote? Voting is a basic right. While not enough on its...

Posted 07 Oct 2019

A tale of two local by-elections: how STV produces fairer outcomes

On Thursday 3rd October, as on most Thursdays, several local authority by-elections took place throughout Britain. These by-elections occur when a vacancy arises due to a local councillor resigning or passing away. Two of Thursday’s...

Posted 04 Oct 2019

Under STV, 71% of voters saw a candidate elected who they had given their first-preference vote t

London mayoral race: Will Rory Stewart’s candidacy ‘split’ the Conservative vote?

If there is one thing you can predict about politics these days, it’s that you can’t predict anything. In the space of a few months, Rory Stewart has gone from running for leadership of the...

Posted 04 Oct 2019

If neither get into the second round, all their votes will be wasted

At our Lib Dem fringe, panelists looked at future proofing our campaigning laws

With proportional representation a long-term policy of the Liberal Democrats, we took the opportunity to discuss the wider crisis in our democracy at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Bournemouth this year. As the possibility...

Posted 03 Oct 2019

We must ensure that online campaigning does not remain beyond the law

The current crisis has been a long time coming – and Westminster’s system is behind it

It’s easy right now to get caught up in the daily drama of politics – to focus on individuals, and the game playing, and to forget that the current political chaos is all part of...

Posted 24 Sep 2019

The last year of political turmoil is the outcome of a system that has been failing for a long time

Why unions are getting serious about the need for political reform

A week before the court case over prorogation reached the Supreme Court, the ERS’ Dr Jess Garland told TUC Congress delegates: “Our constitution is just a set of gentlemen’s agreements, with weak parliamentary checks and...

Posted 19 Sep 2019

Our constitution is just a set of gentlemen’s agreements

How To Upgrade our Democracy – Why Citizens’ Assemblies and Local Government Reform are part of the same future (SNP fringe)

The Scottish Government says it is committed to deepening democracy in Scotland. This is vital and timely, as trust in democracy is at a very low ebb. In other places the response to social, economic...

Posted 12 Sep 2019