The Reformer

House of Lords

Lords Reform: A failure for Britain’s political class

And so it’s come to pass. After all the gossip the government has finally withdrawn the House of Lords Reform bill....

A bold step forward for women’s representation

Ireland currently ranks 87 in the world for gender representation in politics with just 15.1% of Irish parliamentarians being women....

Police and Crime Commissioners

A fair cop for women? Female Police and Crime Commissioner candidates in less winnable seats

Yesterday, the Labour Party became the first party to finalise its candidates for the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to be...

Eurovision

Electoral Reform for Eurovision?

Eurovision is upon us once again with everyone’s favourite celebration of Europe’s questionable musical talent. Certain traditions will no doubt...

Voter registration: lessons from the US

By Dr Toby S James, Swansea University In the 1980s American academics Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward, alongside the...

England let down by elections as Scotland leads the way

Since Thursday’s local elections we’ve been crunching the numbers. Did voters get a fair deal? What has breaking from First Past...

Graphic of women

Women’s legislative recruitment: no simple explanation, no single panacea

Rosie Campbell, Birkbeck University London & Sarah Childs, University of Bristol It is a widely held view that the first-past-the-post electoral system...

Examining the case for directly elected mayors

Does Bristol, Birmingham or Bradford want a Boris? We find out next Thursday when these and seven other English cities...

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...

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...

Behind the excuses and the finger pointing – the bitter pill of party funding

So here we are again. Once more the headlines boom with a brand new ‘cash-for influence’ scandal. Peter Cruddas, millionaire...

Reporting back from Welsh Labour Conference

By Owain Llyr ap Gareth, Research and Campaigns Officer, Electoral Reform Society Wales After entering the empty room an hour before...