The Reformer

All Around the World Basics Case Study Current Affairs Commentary Developments at the ERS ERS Cymru ERS Northern Ireland ERS Report Launch ERS Scotland Featured Polling Your Questions Answered
The new Holyrood intake looks the way that Scotland voted
Scottish Parliament

What we learnt from Scotland’s 2026 elections

Scotland has just done something that now feels almost radical in UK politics: it produced an election result that actually...

Holyrood’s voting system wants you to be represented in Parliament
ERS Scotland

How Scotland’s Holyrood elections work will work this May

The 2024 General Election in Scotland was a one-sided affair. Scottish Labour won 35.3% of the vote in Scotland and...

We need to shift the balance closer to 50:50, to allow the ‘top-up’ to do its job.
ERS Scotland

Scotland’s Parliament still has too much First Past the Post

When the Scottish Parliament was created, it was built to be different to Westminster. A system designed to reflect how...

Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber

A Parliament That Works for Scotland

Make Scotland’s democracy even more representative.

D’Hondt often over-rewards parties that have already done well
Scottish Parliament

How Sainte-Laguë could improve Scottish Parliamentary elections

Scotland’s Parliament has always been better at representing the political makeup of Scotland than Westminster. A parliament where votes mattered...

I’m quietly optimistic about what lies ahead
Citizens' Assemblies

First weekend of Dunfermline New City Assembly lays a fantastic foundation

Dunfermline, Scotland’s ancient capital, feels like the ideal place to explore new ways for communities to influence decisions. This weekend...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

2025 at the ERS: Our work in Scotland and Wales

Each year we write an Annual Review which looks back at our achievements across the last 12 months, and explains...

Scotlands AMS system doesnt prevent parties from winning if they genuinely earn it
ERS Scotland

Is the Scottish Parliament designed to stop a majority?

As we approach the next Scottish parliamentary election, there’s a familiar narrative creeping into the conversation: that the system of...

Does the setting shape the spirit of our democratic conversations?
Citizens' Assemblies

What Denmark’s Folkemødet can teach us about rebuilding trust in democracy

This summer, I visited Folkemødet, Denmark’s annual democracy festival held in the coastal town of Allinge on the island of...

Ministerial visit to Dunfermline
Citizens' Assemblies

Government minister visits Dunfermline to find out about Citizens’ Assembly project

Last week, Dunfermline took another confident stride toward becoming a beacon of democratic innovation in Scotland. On Tuesday, Public Finance...

A Scottish Spring Conference photo of guests
ERS Scotland

ERS Scottish Spring conference draws crowd in Edinburgh

Sometimes it is useful to take some time to digest an event fully, and come to some considerations about it....

A Scottish Spring

A Scottish Spring: Building a Democracy fit for the 21st Century

Scotland is entering a new era in public life. The last decade has been dominated by the aftermath and consequences...