The Reformer

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Did a tactical voting blunder hit the Conservative leadership contest?
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Surprising Conservative leadership vote shows that voting systems matter

James Cleverly must have thought he was in with a chance of winning the leadership of the Conservative Party, in...

Party donors aren’t necessarily giving these gifts out of the goodness of their hearts
Money in Politics

Freebies are just the tip of the Iceberg when it comes to money in politics

The recent cacophony surrounding ‘freebies’ given by Labour party donors to Labour MPs since 2019 is just the latest in...

72 percent were in favour of electing their councillors using the Single Transferable Vote
ERS Cymru

Gwynedd consultation backs STV with nearly three quarters in favour

There was some fantastic news out of Gwynedd last week, as Cyngor Gwynedd released the results of its consultation on...

A Citizens Assembly is a group of people put together like a jury to think about an important issue
Citizens' Assemblies

What are the benefits of Citizens’ Assemblies, and should they be used more?

At the ERS, we’ve long campaigned for more involvement of citizens in the decisions that affect them. For politics to...

Where next for Welsh Democracy?

Where next for Welsh Democracy?

The next Senedd elections in 2026 will look very different; more members, different constituencies and a new voting system. At...

CAER fringe 2024
Electoral Reform in Westminster

General Election result prompts renewed electoral reform debate at Conservative Party conference 

The Conservative conference this year was dominated by the leadership contest, with the four remaining candidates making their pitches to...

Jill Rutter, Chris Hipkins and Darren Hughes at Labour Conference 2024
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Former New Zealand PM praises ‘very stable’ PR at Labour Conference

Despite the downcast weather in Liverpool this week there was an upbeat mood at the Labour conference as the party...

“it’s pleasing to see that the Lib Dems are committed as ever to bringing in a proportional system”
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Jubilation and strong support for electoral reform at the Liberal Democrat’s 2024 conference

There was a jubilant atmosphere at the Liberal Democrat conference this week. The number 72 – the number of MPs...

while some parties are champions of electoral reform, others prefer the stagnant status quo
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Which UK political parties support proportional representation?

The results of the 2024 election are just the latest indicator of our broken electoral system, with a troubling mismatch...

The Welsh Parliament is taking bold steps to strengthen is democratic foundations, but there is room to go further
Electoral Reform in Westminster

What to expect from the upcoming Senedd Reforms

The Welsh Parliament is going through a raft of changes ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections. Here’s all you need...

Voter ID

16,000 people were blocked from voting in the general election, it’s time to scrap voter ID

The scale of the impact that voter ID had on the recent general election has been laid bare today by...

Campaigners are rejoicing that this blight on our democracy will finally be cleaned up
House of Lords

The plans to remove all the hereditary peers are now in motion

Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for, plans have been laid for the final 92 hereditary peers to lose their...