Time to Discuss Local Democracy in WalesA few weeks ago, Electoral Reform Society Wales gave evidence to the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee about the new Local Democracy Bill making its way through the National Assembly. Is the new Local...Posted 06 Feb 2013
16 days and counting to an election no one’s heard of…Another day, another disaster. We now hear that £350,000 worth of ballot papers are headed for the shredder. The farce that is the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections is continuing to thrill audiences across the country....Posted 30 Oct 2012
Politics is too important to be left to the politiciansAs the first stage in a yearlong process to imagine what a ‘Good Scottish Democracy’ might look like we asked for volunteers to take part in a discussion about the future of Scotland Democracy. ...Posted 12 Oct 2012
Cameron’s broken promise on Women’s representationWomen’s representation in government has always appeared to matter to the Prime Minister. Back in his 2005 acceptance speech as leader David Cameron spoke of the need to end the “scandalous under-representation of women” in...Posted 09 Sep 2012
Lords Reform: A failure for Britain’s political classAnd so it’s come to pass. After all the gossip the government has finally withdrawn the House of Lords Reform bill. This isn’t about the failure of one party, one government or one bill, but of...Posted 06 Aug 2012
A fair cop for women? Female Police and Crime Commissioner candidates in less winnable seatsYesterday, the Labour Party became the first party to finalise its candidates for the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to be elected this November. There have been widespread fears that this new role will be heavily...Posted 20 Jun 2012
England let down by elections as Scotland leads the waySince Thursday’s local elections we’ve been crunching the numbers. Did voters get a fair deal? What has breaking from First Past the Post meant for Scotland? Well what we’re seeing is a widening gulf between local democracy...Posted 09 May 2012
Examining the case for directly elected mayorsDoes Bristol, Birmingham or Bradford want a Boris? We find out next Thursday when these and seven other English cities give voters a choice as to whether to adopt the directly elected mayor model. Yet...Posted 26 Apr 2012
140,000 reasons for reform:Next week voters across 21 of Wales’ 22 unitary authorities will head to the polls to decide the political make-up of their local councils. Voters will express a view on where they want to see...Posted 26 Apr 2012
Bargaining on equality: a challenge to the trade unions?“If we want to see women in positions of power in society – how do we achieve it?” This was the challenge we set for the audience at the Unions21 debate: Women, Power and Trade Unions....Posted 04 Apr 2012