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Electoral Reform in Westminster

The plans to save Westminster are a missed opportunity to re-build our democracy

May 9, 2019

Yesterday the government has published its long-awaited Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill setting out its plans to repair the...

A small, but important, victory for voters
Campaign Regulation

Imprints – finally some action to update our analogue laws for the digital age

In a victory for voters; campaigners; academics; the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee; and the Electoral Commission, among many...

Citizen-led decision making was brought up again and again in fringes and on the conference floor
ERS Scotland

SNP delegates pack out ERS Scotland fringes

On Sunday at SNP spring conference, delegates showed their interest in a deliberative and local democracy by packing out 2...

Australia Sydney
House of Lords

Australian Senate reforms need to go further to put voters back in control

Ill-thought-out plans have a habit of coming back and biting you, and it’s no different in politics. In fact, the...

Voter ID Required
English Local Democracy

Local elections: How voter ID trial could undermine the right to vote

Here’s something you might not know about Thursday’s local elections: hundreds of thousands of potential voters are being told that...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

Conservative MPs back proportional representation, arguing First Past the Post “encourages conflict and aggression”

MPs from across the spectrum made the case for reforming the Commons’ ‘divisive, broken electoral system’ on Tuesday, in a...

Electoral Reform in Westminster

Uncontested seats mean thousands of voters will be denied their democratic rights

April 25, 2019

Next week, on Thursday, 2 May, voters in many parts of England will go to the polls to elect their...

Too late for a wake-up call?

April 24, 2019

How does the Welsh Conservative Party reflect and represent the whole of Wales, and should the Party respond to the...

Election Cancelled
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Democracy cancelled: How parties have captured hundreds of seats before local election day

Large parts of England are effectively democracy deserts, with hundreds of thousands of potential voters denied real choice in this...

Campaign Regulation

Ministers can’t let themselves of the hook when it comes to tackling the social media ‘Wild West’

April 15, 2019

Last week the government launched a consultation into tackling ‘online harm’. It’s the first step towards dealing with the tech...

Votes are chewed up by the meat-grinder of Westminster’s voting system
Electoral Reform in Westminster

Why A General Election Won’t Solve The Brexit Deadlock

One piece of news got buried last week. While Labour held on to Newport West in Thursday’s by-election, the full...

Forcing people to vote won’t tackle the causes of low turnout, merely the symptoms.
Polling Day

Should we make voting compulsory?

Elections with low-turnout are not uncommon in the UK, so it’s only natural that questions are often raised on how...