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
Voter ID

Voter ID checks threaten to suppress voter rights ‘on industrial scale’

The Windrush scandal showed what can happen when millions of people who lack ID are shut out by Government. But the...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

The movement for an overhaul of Britain’s broken constitution is growing

October 10, 2019

On Sunday, former Brexit Secretary David Davis wrote an important piece in the Times arguing that ‘Brexit is the writing...

Constitutional Convention

Campaigners are stepping up calls for a ‘Constitutional Convention’ on Britain’s democracy

October 9, 2019

Whichever side of the Brexit debate people are on, one feeling is clear: voters feel disenfranchised and frustrated at Westminster’s...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

There’s a glaring threat facing the next General Election: the ‘missing millions’

October 7, 2019

You don’t have to opt in to your right to free speech. So why do we have to opt in...

Under STV, 71% of voters saw a candidate elected who they had given their first-preference vote t
Electoral Reform in Westminster

A tale of two local by-elections: how STV produces fairer outcomes

On Thursday 3rd October, as on most Thursdays, several local authority by-elections took place throughout Britain. These by-elections occur when...

If neither get into the second round, all their votes will be wasted
Electoral Reform in Westminster

London mayoral race: Will Rory Stewart’s candidacy ‘split’ the Conservative vote?

If there is one thing you can predict about politics these days, it’s that you can’t predict anything. In the...

We must ensure that online campaigning does not remain beyond the law
Campaign Regulation

At our Lib Dem fringe, panelists looked at future proofing our campaigning laws

With proportional representation a long-term policy of the Liberal Democrats, we took the opportunity to discuss the wider crisis in...

The last year of political turmoil is the outcome of a system that has been failing for a long time
Constitutional Convention

The current crisis has been a long time coming – and Westminster’s system is behind it

It’s easy right now to get caught up in the daily drama of politics – to focus on individuals, and...

Our constitution is just a set of gentlemen’s agreements
House of Lords

Why unions are getting serious about the need for political reform

A week before the court case over prorogation reached the Supreme Court, the ERS’ Dr Jess Garland told TUC Congress...

Our Democracy

How To Upgrade our Democracy – Why Citizens’ Assemblies and Local Government Reform are part of the same future (SNP fringe)

The Scottish Government says it is committed to deepening democracy in Scotland. This is vital and timely, as trust in...

A general election would re-shuffle the parliamentary deck rather than solve the underlying problem
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Another election under Westminster’s broken voting system is unlikely to get us out of this crisis

Back in May, our Westminster Beyond Brexit report raised a prescient question:  “Do we want a democracy that gives the...

200 years since one of the first battles for the vote, our political structures still need to change
Constitutional Convention

200 years since the Peterloo Massacre, Westminster is still broken

The events of 2019 have put the problems of Westminster’s system into sharp focus.  From discussions about the Prime Minister...