Voting with proportional representation feels much more meaningful than Westminster’s systemAs part of a series on the experiences of voters in the Irish 2020 election, we wanted to speak with people who have voted with Ireland’s STV system and under Westminster’s First Past the Post...Posted 11 Feb 2020
Ireland’s TV debates show the difference the electoral system makesOn Tuesday the 4th February, ITV’s political editor Robert Peston tweeted: The Irish leaders’ debate is really quite shocking. The three leaders have a detailed grasp of complex welfare and tax issues, they are polite...Posted 06 Feb 2020
Ireland beats the UK in satisfaction with democracyIn a new study, researchers at Cambridge University have ranked Ireland among just seven countries worldwide where more than 75% of citizens are content with democracy. This high level of satisfaction ranks Ireland fifth in...Posted 06 Feb 2020
People are rightly losing faith in politics, it’s time for democratic renewalA new report by the recently established Centre for the Future of Democracy at the University of Cambridge has found that dissatisfaction with democracy has reached an all-time global high. Westminster-style democracies (the UK, Australia,...Posted 31 Jan 2020
14 Million Voters Are In Seats That Haven’t Changed Hands Since WW2. Here’s WhyNearly 14 million voters are in seats that have not changed party hands since the Second World War, according to new research by the Electoral Reform Society. Taking into account equivalent predecessor seats, some seats have...Posted 09 Dec 2019
What is proportional representation?Parties from across the political spectrum are lining up against Westminster’s voting system and calling for proportional representation, but what does that term mean? There are lots of different ways to decide who gets to...Posted 06 Dec 2019
STV: a 200-year quest for fair votingThis December, the UK we will be voting in yet another general election using First Past the Post – a system where one party can gain an overall majority of seats with only 35% to...Posted 27 Nov 2019
We should be scrutinising candidates and policies. Instead the talk is of tactics and pactsJudging by the first week of the general election campaign, it seems likely that the remaining month will see a lot of focus on ‘tactical’ issues. We’ve already seen electoral pacts, or parties standing down...Posted 13 Nov 2019
What is tactical voting and why is it bad for democracy?In a Westminster election, tactical voting takes place when a voter chooses a candidate whom they wouldn’t normally support, in order to prevent another candidate from winning. For example, if you want to vote for...Posted 12 Nov 2019
Meet the new ERS CouncilAfter a well-contested election, the Electoral Reform Society have a new Council to govern the Society for the next two years. Nearly 850 members took part, with 50 candidates standing for the 12 seats available....Posted 22 Oct 2019