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Britain’s democratic farce: This is how the upcoming ‘hereditary by-election’ will work

Last week, there was a rather hushed announcement in parliament: a resignation among the Lords. A peer has decided to retire. No big news usually, but this is no ordinary peerage. Nor will it be an ordinary...

Posted 16 May 2018

No more filibustering – why the government should get behind a fairer franchise

Scotland has it, Wales is getting it, and more and more politicians are calling for it in England. Yet on Friday, a handful of MPs prevented legislation on votes at 16 going to the next...

Posted 15 May 2018

With cross-party support, we can secure a fair franchise for young people

Today MPs will debate a bill which could step our democracy up a gear. Dr Peter Kyle’s Representation of the People (Young People’s Enfranchisement) Bill would extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. But whereas many bills...

Posted 11 May 2018

When getting the most votes isn’t enough – England’s 2018 local elections

Last week’s local elections were a textbook lesson in why we need to change the way we elect our local councils. From the wrong party winning, to councils with zero scrutiny, using Westminster’s voting system...

Posted 09 May 2018

If you didn’t already think the voter ID trial was a mess, you will after reading this

The government’s rationale for its ill-considered Voter ID pilots was to tackle “electoral fraud” – a criminal offence of which allegations are rightly investigated by the police. So it doesn’t look good for the government...

Posted 08 May 2018

A new report shows we need urgent action to revive our democracy

For the past fifteen years, the Hansard Society – a thinktank which promotes parliamentary democracy – has published its Audit of Political Engagement. The Audit is an attempt to measure the level of engagement of...

Posted 01 May 2018

Revealed: How mandatory voter ID risks locking out legitimate voters

Representative democracies rely on people being able to participate in free and fair elections. That is why each time an election comes around the Electoral Reform Society and likeminded campaigners encourage as many people as...

Posted 30 Apr 2018

What can be drawn from the House of Lords ‘abolition’ petition and other options for reform

The House of Lords is a centuries-old institution of British politics which has outlived many others and which, to this day, plays an active role in crafting the laws of the land. But in its...

Posted 27 Apr 2018

Local Elections 2018: Six things your local council decides on

How much do you know about your local council – what it does, how it’s spending the council tax you pay each month, and how you can affect the decisions it makes? As if often the case with politics, the answer isn’t straightforward. In...

Posted 26 Apr 2018

Trade unionists say it’s time to fix Westminster – and build a ‘politics for the many’

Politics for the Many is an alliance of trade unionists who champion political reform – and last week they set out the findings of their debut report at this year’s Scottish Trade Union Congress in...

Posted 24 Apr 2018