Localism and devolution – ERS at Labour conference“Devolution is a hot topic,” said Jane Dudman, Guardian Public Leaders editor, who chaired the first of three ERS fringe events at Labour Party Conference 2015. The topic was: “can Labour reclaim devolution and localism?”...Posted 13 Oct 2015
Party over Principle: Independence in the LordsThe House of Lords is often assumed to be more independent than the Commons because it is less strongly whipped and because it contains Crossbench members who do not have a party affiliation. But it’s...Posted 09 Oct 2015
An Elected Lord?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 18 Sep 2015
The Scottish people should be involved in the devolution debateYesterday (Wednesday 16th September) the Scottish Parliament debated ‘Scotland’s Future: Democracy and Devolution’. One year on from the independence referendum, and with the Scotland Bill due to go to report stage in the next few...Posted 17 Sep 2015
Costly cronies of the House of LordsIn our new report, House of Lords Fact vs Fiction, we took a look at some of the enduring myths that surround our unelected second chamber. Peers are technically unpaid, but unlike the thousands of people...Posted 24 Aug 2015
It’s official: the House of Lords is completely bustToday, we can reveal that the House of Lords is officially, well and truly bust. We’re pleased to launch our new report on our unelected upper chamber: ‘House of Lords: Fact vs Fiction’ – where...Posted 16 Aug 2015
Andy Burnham’s identified the right problem – but his solution falls shortTry as the political class might, calls to reform the House of Lords always come to the fore. So it’s no surprise that the issue has been on the agenda again for the past week....Posted 10 Aug 2015
The House of Lords Needs a Major Overhaul, Not Tinkering Around the EdgesCalls for reform of the House of Lords have been heard even more loudly that normal in the last ten days and the reason is fairly obvious. The current set-up comes nowhere close to being...Posted 04 Aug 2015
Devolution needs democracy – politicians should back fair votes for local governmentTomorrow the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill has its Third Reading in the House of Lords – the final stage before it goes back to the Commons. It’s a Bill that will have a...Posted 20 Jul 2015
2015 General Election ResultsVotes for the two largest parties came to just 67.3% combined, with 36.9% of the electorate voting Conservative and 30.4% voting Labour. The number of votes cast for parties other than the Conservatives, Labour or...Posted 19 Jul 2015