The Reformer

It’s time for Westminster to join Scotland in shunning First Past the Post

First Past the Post elections are like trying to peel potatoes with a chainsaw. For much of the UK, people have come...

Wales tears down barriers to democracy as England fortifies them

Last week Wales has shown just what devolution can do: allow new ways of doing democracy. On Tuesday the Welsh...

Hereditary by-election

The results come in for the UK’s most bizarre and elitist election

Baron Vaux of Harrowden (or Richard Hubert Gordon Gilbey) has won a seat for life on the basis of 16...

young voters

Citizenship education paves the way for votes at 16

With Wales looking to equalise their voting age with Scotland for local elections at 16, we asked our work experience...

Citizens Assembly on Brexit blog

It’s time to get the public involved in Brexit

The way people talk about ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’ is enough to make you think they have always been at loggerheads...

The House of Lords is in the midst of yet another hereditary peers’ by-election

By Darren Hughes In case you’re not aware of this bizarre constitutional anomaly, in 1999, the House of Lords Act...

2017 was the first online media election. Let’s look at what this means for democracy

According to recent research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2017 was the first general election where...

Britain is changing, so should our electoral system

So, the Conservatives and DUP have agreed a deal. Despite the two previous elections failing to secure a ‘strong and...

‘Strong and stable’? Westminster’s voting system is anything but

Voters won’t be bossed about – perhaps that’s the first lesson we should take from the election. From voting for...

3rd Strike FPTP's out

First Past the Post’s Third Strike

We’ve heard it time and time again in different forms: First Past the Post is ‘strong and stable’. It seems...

Multi-party system

Scotland’s multi-party system can never be represented by First Past the Post

At the close of the polls on Thursday, people in Scotland will have faced 10 opportunities to vote in the...

minority Governments

The scourge of tactical voting

A fifth of voters feel unable to back the party they most support this election, according to polling for the...