The Reformer

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We need UK-wide automatic voter registration
Voter Registration

Electoral Commission estimate 8 million missing from electoral roll

This week, the Electoral Commission published a report highlighting how millions of people are missing from Britain’s electoral registers. The...

SNP Conf 2023 preview

Making Scotland’s Communities Independent (SNP Conference)

What is the best route to powerful communities? A vibrant and powerful local democracy creates the basis for building strong...

Good scrutiny pays for itself and poor scrutiny leads to poor decisions going unchallenged
ERS Cymru

Welsh Government introduce Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Next year the Senedd will mark a quarter of a century since its establishment. For many of those 25 years...

The Government needs to scrap this unnecessary and damaging policy
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Voter ID rules criticised by MPs, election watchdog and election administrators

This week three separate independent reports have exposed the extent of the unnecessary damage voter ID has wrought to our...

CAER at Tory Conf 2023 PR ERS

Responding to Labour’s Plans for Electoral Reform (Conservative Conference)

Conservative Action for Electoral Reform (CAER) are hosting an event at this year’s Conservative Party Conference on the Conservative’s response...

Voting should be about Westminster clearly hearing the voice of the electorate
Electoral Reform in Westminster

The Mid Bedfordshire by-election shows how First Past the Post warps our politics

It finally happened. After weeks of speculation and, more latterly, mounting criticism, Nadine Dorries officially resigned her seat in Mid...

2, 3, 4 or 5 years? How regular should elections be?
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Short, long, or in-between: How long do parliaments last?

Regular elections are a core part of any democracy, but how regular should they be? There has been a lot...

It bears repeating that patronage is a bad idea
House of Lords

Resignation honours are the worst, but all patronage is bad

The fact that Liz Truss’s short-term premiership can result in lifetime appointments to the house of House of Lords has...

In conversation with founding President and CEO of Fair Vote USA, Rob Richie.

Campaigning for Proportional Representation: Lessons from around the world (Liberal Democrat Conference)

64 per cent of adults would have liked to have had the vote at 16
Votes at 16

Voters trusted themselves to vote at 16 – let’s expand the franchise

Do you think you should have been able to vote from 16? New research commissioned by The Body Shop and...

The UK’s shortest-serving prime minister is getting ready to hand out life-long jobs
House of Lords

Liz Truss’ resignation honours could be a turning point for reform

News reports this weekend revealed that Liz Truss’s controversial honours list is making its way through the vetting process with...

The State of Scottish Democracy Lecture

ERS Scotland’s State of Scottish Democracy lecture, 2023

ERS Scotland is proud to host the second annual State of Scottish Democracy lecture. Each year we assess the health...