The Reformer

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Swedish ballots
Electoral Reform in Westminster

How do elections work in Sweden?

Sunday 11th September is election day in Sweden – where voters can elect a new parliament and decide the make-up...

There are three main areas where we think the Commission should make recommendations
ERS Cymru

Constitutional questions need answering to strengthen Welsh democracy

The debate about the UK’s constitutional arrangements has come to the fore in recent years. We’ve seen a Scottish referendum,...

It shouldnt be at the prime ministers whim to decide who scrutinises our laws
House of Lords

A majority of people oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers

Our new polling has found that the majority of people (54%) oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with...

The Republic of Ireland has successfully used STV for over _100 years
Electoral Reform in Westminster

How did the Republic of Ireland get proportional representation?

Today, almost every election held on the island of Ireland uses the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Bar elections for the 18...

We need to be looking at removing other barriers to voting in Wales
English Local Democracy

Early indications suggest Welsh voting pilots went well

In May’s local elections, four areas in Wales trialled a different way of voting – allowing people to cast their...

New Zealand’s journey provides lessons for the UK
Electoral Reform in Westminster

How did New Zealand get proportional representation?

Prior to 1996, MPs were elected to New Zealand’s House of Representatives using the same unrepresentative First Past The Post...

Only a fully democratic second chamber, can provide the accountability we need
House of Lords

It’s time to scrap the tradition of resignation honours

Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to use his final days in power to pack the Lords with his supporters and...

ERS members

2022 Conference and AGM

This year we were delighted to be joined by leading academic Professor Ailsa Henderson from the University of Edinburgh and Mick...

A step closer to the full-time parliament Wales deserves
Senedd

Success as Labour vote overwhelmingly to increase the size of the Senedd

Welsh Labour members voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to back a new package of reforms to modernise the Senedd. This is...

A system more suited to a private members' club than our parliament
House of Lords

Two aristocrats have won the right to make laws for life with just 27 votes

Just weeks after 70,000 people cast their votes to elect two new MPs in the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton...

Tactical voting is often presented as the answer, but the truth is it is just a symptom
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Proportional representation would end the scourge of tactical voting

The losses in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton, where the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Conservative majority, were both the result of declining...

Jersey 2022 even a simplified plurality system will still lead to unfair, distorted results
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Jersey’s new electoral system has first outing

Two years ago, the Electoral Reform Society looked at the island of Guernsey’s new voting system where voters had to...