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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

This boundary review risks skewing our democracy. It’s time to think again

It’s fair to say the boundary review has caused a stir. Why? Let’s start with the whole basis of this shakeup. The boundary redrawing is being conducted on the basis of registered electors – rather than the actual...

Posted 14 Sep 2016

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

ERS Quiz UKIP’s Leadership Candidates on Democratic Reform

UKIP’s leadership election is in full swing, with the results announced on the 16thSeptember. At the ERS, we’re running Q&As with the leadership candidates for UKIP – as well as the Labour Party, which...

Posted 06 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

‘The Alternative’: Creative thinking for reformers

It’s only by working together that we can achieve the change we need. So it’s great to see that a healthy conversation has started on how to do this even better in the years ahead....

Posted 25 Aug 2016

Electoral Reform in Parliament again

Two of our issues are back in the House of Commons this week as Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, will be presenting her ‘Electoral Reform (Proportional Representation and Reduction of Voting...

Posted 18 Aug 2016

The House of Lords needs more than tinkering

Lords reform is back on the agenda. And given the frequency of scandals we see in the upper chamber, that’s no surprise. A couple of weeks ago, we revealed that David Cameron’s 189 appointments to...

Posted 17 Aug 2016

Voter fraud: the nut and the sledgehammer

Last week, the Former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, published his report into tackling electoral fraud in the UK. While we should of course take all instances of voter fraud very seriously,...

Posted 15 Aug 2016