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Ending the Punch and Judy show: How to get a more cooperative politics

There is an uncomfortable fact for those who oppose moves to a fairer voting system: all the chaos we have seen in Westminster over the past few years has been under the ‘strong and stable’...

Posted 30 May 2019

The public wants a fairer, more honest, more cooperative politics

Ending the Politics of Division – How We Can Build a New Democracy

Ten years on from the expenses scandal that rocked trust in our politics and nearly three years since this Brexit deadlock began, Britain’s broken political system remains largely unchanged. No one can deny it: the...

Posted 25 May 2019

Westminster Beyond Brexit Ending the Politics of Division

Euro elections show how Westminster’s first past the post holds back women

Elections to the European Parliament take place today across the UK. As we’ve talked about in a previous blog post, the UK’s 73 MEPs will be elected using proportional representation (PR). In Great Britain, the...

Posted 23 May 2019

Electoral systems play a big role in the number of women elected

How is the European Parliament Elected?

Voters across the EU will be heading to the polls this week to elect the 751 representatives to the European Parliament (known as MEPs). Elections will be held in the UK on the 23rd of...

Posted 21 May 2019

Each member state decides the details of the system used to elect their MEPs

Even council leaders are uncomfortable with the ‘one party states’ of First Past the Post

May’s local elections in England showed just how unfit-for-purpose the voting system is, as voters were left with random results and warped council chambers. The elections saw big swings against the two main parties, as...

Posted 16 May 2019

Local leaders need a strong challenge, regardless of which party they come from

‘This is What Democracy Looks Like’: Why campaigners are gathering in Manchester 200 years on from the Peterloo Massacre

Nearly 200 years ago, thousands of working people gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester with a simple demand: political representation. Local magistrates tried to shut down the meeting – the cavalry charged on the...

Posted 15 May 2019

200 years on from the Peterloo Massacre, it’s time to revive the campaign for a real democracy.

A new all-party group has been launched to update Britain’s ‘wild west’ election campaign rules

As we get closer to the European elections, here’s a worrying fact: our elections are currently wide open to foreign interference and dodgy campaigning. Election rules in the UK haven’t been updated since the year...

Posted 15 May 2019

England’s 2019 local elections – The places where around half of voters go unrepresented

On 2 May, thousands of people were elected to serve as councillors in local authorities across England. While a lot of attention has been given to the overall performances of political parties and independent candidates, little scrutiny...

Posted 13 May 2019

In Havant, the Conservatives won all 11 seats up for election – despite winning fewer than half of the votes

The plans to save Westminster are a missed opportunity to re-build our democracy

Yesterday the government has published its long-awaited Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill setting out its plans to repair the dangerous and crumbling Parliamentary estate. As part of it, they’ve also launched a new consultation...

Posted 09 May 2019

A new circular chamber could help shift our political culture

Imprints – finally some action to update our analogue laws for the digital age

In a victory for voters; campaigners; academics; the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee; and the Electoral Commission, among many others, the government has finally committed to extending imprints (disclosures stating who has paid for...

Posted 07 May 2019