What’s the difference between open and closed list proportional representation?When discussing proportional voting systems, or voting systems in general, we usually talk about how they allocate seats to political parties. But parliaments are more than parties and it also matters how they decide which...Posted 15 Nov 2021
Was there a referendum on proportional representation?Whenever a conversation online comes to proportional representation, you can set your watch by the appearance of someone claiming that ‘we had a referendum on that!’. Advocates of the way things are in Westminster argue...Posted 28 Oct 2021
Barriers to entry: How do electoral thresholds work?A common feature of many Party List PR systems is an electoral threshold – a pre-set bar that parties have to reach if they want to win seats.Posted 03 Sep 2021
Which votes get transferred with the Single Transferable Vote?The first meetings of the Electoral Reform Society, then known as the Proportional Representation Society, quickly settled on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the best option for electoral reform.Posted 17 Aug 2021
Hare vs Droop: How to set the quota under STVThe first meetings of the Proportional Representation Society quickly attracted many leading lights of the Victorian age – including Lewis Carroll, CP Scott (editor of what is now The Guardian) and Thomas Hare (the inventor...Posted 10 Aug 2021
What is the difference between D’hondt and Sainte-Laguë?Looking at just Party List systems in western Europe, there is a lot of variation.Posted 27 Jul 2021
What would the party system look like if the UK had proportional representation?By looking at the experiences of similar countries and the devolved governments, we can see which kinds of party system are most probable given the sorts of voting system that are most likely to be...Posted 09 Jun 2021
How May’s elections for the Senedd Cymru will workOn May 6, more than 2 million voters will be called to elect their 60 representatives in the Senedd / Welsh Parliament. The Senedd was established in 1999, together with the Scottish Parliament, and holds...Posted 04 May 2021
How May’s London Assembly elections will workThis May, millions of Londoners will go to the polls to vote for the Mayor and the London Assembly. The London Assembly is the political body that holds the mayor to account and scrutinises their...Posted 07 Apr 2021
How elections for the Mayor of London will workOn May 6, one year after elections were supposed to be held, more than six million Londoners will be called to the polling stations to elect their mayor (alongside 25 members of the London Assembly)...Posted 01 Apr 2021