Recent Articles

Explore the Electoral Reform Society's home for articles and insights, or scroll through the Society's article archive below.

Implementing the Donaldson Review in Wales

Following the announcement by Education minister Huw Lewis that the Donaldson Review would be implemented in full, our education adviser Rhodri Griffiths examines the Donaldson Review on Education in Wales and asks: ‘how can young people become informed...

Posted 16 Jun 2015

The 2015 general election – A system in crisis

It’s official: this election was the most disproportionate in UK history. We’ve just released our new report on the May 7th General Election, A Voting System in Crisis. And it makes for worrying reading for fans of...

Posted 01 Jun 2015

Election Cancelled – The Curse of Uncontested Seats

There has been a shocking increase in the number of uncontested seats in some English councils up for election this May. The Eden District Council in Cumbria has already declared 21 of its 38 available...

Posted 01 May 2015

Taking your time forming a government

Some things can be done in a hurry, but forming a Government certainly shouldn’t be one of them. In our recent report, Working Together, we set out the guidelines for forming power-sharing arrangements based on...

Posted 20 Apr 2015

How popular is power-sharing?

Yesterday the views of Brits were unveiled to the world. And in some ways, they make for some startling reading. The British Social Attitudes Survey – a renowned national study of voters’ opinions – was...

Posted 30 Mar 2015

End the patronage

Earlier this week the UCL’s Constitution Unit released a new report titled Enough is Enough, outlining the ludicrous situation of Lords appointments. The House of Lords is now the second largest chamber on the planet, only...

Posted 12 Feb 2015

House of Lords

Permission to share power?

When it comes to forming a coalition, is it better to get your party on side before committing, or to take the plunge without consultation? The Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps has recently said that...

Posted 19 Jan 2015

Reckless choices?

After Clacton, comes Rochester and Strood. At the start of the campaign, the Conservatives felt they stood a good chance of winning this second by-election caused by a Conservative MP defecting to UKIP. In comparison...

Posted 21 Nov 2014

Cheryl Gillan on women in politics

This is a guest post by Cheryl Gillan, Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham and former Secretary of State for Wales. The views, opinions and positions expressed within are those of the author alone and...

Posted 29 Sep 2014