News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

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Why cutting the number of MPs could cut democratic scrutiny too

Last week we saw the first proposals for the new constituency boundaries, drawn up by the Boundary Commission. It’s certainly caused a stir – with allegations flying around about which parties it will hit harder, whether it...

Posted 23 Sep 2016

5 simple ways to improve how we do democracy

It seems like the distant past now, but in the few weeks up to the registration deadline for the EU referendum, more than 1.35 million people applied to register. On the day of the deadline, 525,000 people applied to...

Posted 20 Sep 2016

The ludicrousness of hereditary peer by-elections

The British constitution, its parliament and its institutions are well known for its oddities and eccentricities: the space provided in the Commons cloakroom for MPs to hang their sword; the fact that all swans in...

Posted 15 Sep 2016

House of Lords

Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith Quizzed on Democratic Reform

The Labour leadership election is in full swing, with the vote closing on Wednesday 21st September. At the ERS, we’re running Q&As with the leadership candidates for the Labour Party. On Tuesday we published our Q&A with...

Posted 07 Sep 2016

Referendums are in vogue – so let’s get them right

Referendums are becoming increasingly popular, internationally and domestically. Since the first UK referendum in 1975, the UK has held three nationally, and 11 in UK countries or English regions, with even more at a local...

Posted 05 Sep 2016

Polling Station