The Reformer

Only one in five ministers are female

In 2009, David Cameron pledged that a third of his ministers would be women. But even today, after a reshuffle which has...

Ballot Papers

Would you back ‘None of the Above’?

Following the county council elections we’ve been hearing a lot about ‘None of the Above’. The IPPR recently flagged None...

Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament

The ban on dual candidacy damages scrutiny in the Welsh Assembly

Some more good news from today’s Queen’s Speech. And this time it’s for something that’s actually in it. The Coalition Government...

Why 32,000 people will be denied a vote in May

On Thursday 6 May, 27 county councils and 8 unitary authorities in England and Anglesey in Wales will hold elections....

Police and Crime Commissioners

Electoral Commission slams Police and Crime Commissioner elections

It’s Official!  Everyone (apart from the Home Office) who has looked at the elections for police and crime commissioners (PCCs)...

Scottish Public want bigger voice in politics

Last week politicians in Scotland were queuing up to call for more power to be exercised at local level. But it...

The 300 women ‘missing’ from Welsh public life

It’s International Women’s Day. And it seemed the right time to show just how badly women are faring in Welsh public...

STV’s Second Outing

In 2007 Scotland began using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) for local government elections. The First Past the Post system...

Where are the women in local government?

At first glance, UK local government statistics aren’t exactly the most exciting topic for a blog. But they’re really important...

Time to Discuss Local Democracy in Wales

A few weeks ago, Electoral Reform Society Wales gave evidence to the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee about the...

Police and Crime Commissioners

16 days and counting to an election no one’s heard of…

Another day, another disaster. We now hear that £350,000 worth of ballot papers are headed for the shredder. The farce that...

Politics is too important to be left to the politicians

As the first stage in a yearlong process to imagine what a ‘Good Scottish Democracy’ might look like we asked...