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If you vote in your first election, you’ll probably vote for life
Votes at 16

In a Snap Brexit Election, 16 and 17 Year-Olds Must Have the Vote

Young people are refusing to be ignored – the recent school climate strikes and campaigning on Brexit have shown that....

Campaign Regulation

ERS in the Press – March 2019

March 29, 2019

Brexit might be dominating the news, but the rolling constitutional crisis that we call Westminster is still up to its...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

Binary indicative votes were never going to achieve a consensus

March 29, 2019

This is an expanded version of a letter from our Senior Director,  Willie Sullivan, that was published in the Times...

House of Lords
House of Lords

While MPs debate our democratic future, another aristocrat takes a seat in Parliament for life

On Wednesday – while elected MPs debated Britain’s future – the results came out for the latest in a series...

Future Voices: Delivering on a Parliament that works for Wales (Welsh Labour Fringe)

March 28, 2019

With the 20th anniversary of the Assembly upon us, how should it evolve further to become a parliament that delivers...

no evidence of voter fraud
Voter ID

New figures demolish the government’s argument for mandatory voter ID

The government’s case for excluding voters who lack ID is getting weaker by the day. Last week the Electoral Commission...

Campaign Regulation

Money could flood into British politics under planned law

March 25, 2019

The Overseas Electors Bill, which returned to the Commons last week, has a sound purpose – to end the current...

Put simply, the government is running scared
Citizens' Assembly on Brexit

Local citizens’ assemblies could break our political deadlock – but the government have vetoed them

Last summer, ministers announced genuinely exciting plans for piloting ‘deliberative democracy’ across the UK. The plan was to use a...

House of Lords

These three peers should not be allowed to stand in the way of democracy

March 15, 2019

In a week dominated by Brexit, it’s easy to forget that there are other topics still on the political agenda....

House of Lords
House of Lords

Unelected aristocrats are still trying to call the shots in Parliament. It’s time for change

This week the ballots dropped for the world’s most elitist election. A contest to select a new hereditary Crossbench peer...

Campaign Regulation

Digital political campaigning remains as unregulated as ever – but calls for reform are increasing

March 12, 2019

Over the weekend, Buzzfeed reported that Britain’s Future, an obscure pro-Brexit group, spent almost £350,000 on 2,600 Facebook adverts over...

House of Lords
House of Lords

Once again, the government have ignored the consensus for Lords reform. Enough is enough

The facts surrounding the dire state of the House of Lords are clear. It is grossly oversized – the largest...