The Reformer

41 percent of England’s population now live in areas with some form of mayoral devolution deal

What is a combined authority and what is a metro mayor?

Local government in England comes in many different formats, unitary, district and county councils all cover different parts of the...

A product of a history of ad hoc piecemeal top-down reforms

How is local government organised in England?

England’s local government can sometimes be quite confusing. The history of devolution within England is one of ad hoc, piecemeal,...

Duverger’s Law is one of the oldest so-called ‘laws’ in political science

Duvager’s law – more guidelines than actual rules?

Wherever there are two dominant political parties, there is a steady stream of new parties hoping to break the system....

More people will bother voting if they feel that their vote won't be wasted

Does proportional representation lead to higher turnout?

A healthy democracy requires healthy levels of democratic participation – the most crucial element of which is turnout at general...

other countries have powerful regional representatives, Britain remains the odd-one-out

How are the members of upper houses chosen around the world?

Many countries use a bicameral political system – meaning that they have two chambers in their parliament. These parliaments are...

There are many ways party leaders and prime ministers are chosen across Europe

How are Prime Ministers chosen around the world?

With pressure mounting on Boris Johnson, it’s looking increasingly possible that Britain could well soon have a new Prime Minister....

2022 is a big year for presidential elections in Europe

How are Presidents elected around Europe?

2022 is a big year for presidential elections in Europe – with the Italian, German and French presidencies all open...

A tram in portugal

As Portugal heads to the polls – how do Portuguese elections work?

Portugal is holding a snap election at the end of the month after parliament rejected the budget proposed by António...

With First Past the Post extreme candidates simply join mainstream parties

Does First Past the Post stop extremists getting into parliaments?

If you listen to supporters of first past the post, you might be forgiven for thinking that British voters are...

The smaller the constituency, the less proportional the results

What is the ideal number of MPs per constituency in proportional representation?

When choosing a proportional voting system, one of the most important decisions is the number of MPs each constituency elects...

Within Europe semi-open lists are the norm

What’s the difference between open and closed list proportional representation?

When discussing proportional voting systems, or voting systems in general, we usually talk about how they allocate seats to political...

Polling Station post sign

Was there a referendum on proportional representation?

Whenever a conversation online comes to proportional representation, you can set your watch by the appearance of someone claiming that...