What has Andy Burnham said about the voting system?Westminster has, once again, been engulfed in high theatre. The Prime Minister stood aside on Monday announcing a two-week departure timetable. Hours later, Andy Burnham hopped on the train to take his Commons seat and...Posted 25 Jun 2026
The difference between proportional and preferential voting systems – and why it mattersWhen is an electoral reform not proportional? That question matters because support for scrapping First Past the Post is growing, yet not every alternative would solve Westminster’s central democratic problem: Parliaments that don’t reflect how...Posted 11 Jun 2026
A council with no overall control isn’t the same as one with proportional representationMay’s English local elections ended one-party dominance in over 30 councils, with 64 of the 136 councils now under no overall control. But a council under no overall control elected by First Past the Post,...Posted 03 Jun 2026
Gorton and Denton intensifies debate about Westminster’s failing voting systemThe streets of Gorton and Denton will be much quieter this week after the flashmob of party activists has now departed. Last Thursday’s poll saw a historic win for the Greens and their first ever...Posted 04 Mar 2026
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2025As the year draws to an end, we’ve had a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with you, our supporters. So if you missed them the first...Posted 17 Dec 2025
How First Past the Post lets people with fringe views slip through the netBritain’s First Past the Post system was designed for a two-party age. One that pretty much everyone agrees we no longer live in. Yet even when most people voted for one of the two big...Posted 13 Nov 2025
Electoral reform takes centre stage at Labour Party conferenceElectoral reform took centre stage, literally, at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this year. Andy Burnham was the lead speaker at the rally calling for reform of Westminster’s voting system, hosted by colleagues in...Posted 15 Oct 2025
Support for proportional representation hits record high according to new researchThe National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has, this week, published the latest findings from their British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey. The survey has been conducted almost every year since its launch in 1983 and...Posted 25 Jun 2025
What voting system does the UK use for general elections?Voting systems are the methods we use to elect representatives, like MPs or local councillors. They lay out rules about the way votes are cast and counted. Which system do we use in general elections...Posted 11 Feb 2025
Current Parliament ‘least represents how the country voted of any in history’, MPs warnLast week saw MPs warning that our current Parliament “is the one that least represents how the country voted of any in history”, as the government came under increasing pressure to bring in a fairer...Posted 06 Feb 2025