The Reformer

Cameron’s broken promise on Women’s representation

Women’s representation in government has always appeared to matter to the Prime Minister. Back in his 2005 acceptance speech as...

House of Lords

Lords Reform: A failure for Britain’s political class

And so it’s come to pass. After all the gossip the government has finally withdrawn the House of Lords Reform bill....

Police and Crime Commissioners

A fair cop for women? Female Police and Crime Commissioner candidates in less winnable seats

Yesterday, the Labour Party became the first party to finalise its candidates for the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to be...

England let down by elections as Scotland leads the way

Since Thursday’s local elections we’ve been crunching the numbers. Did voters get a fair deal? What has breaking from First Past...

Examining the case for directly elected mayors

Does Bristol, Birmingham or Bradford want a Boris? We find out next Thursday when these and seven other English cities...

140,000 reasons for reform:

Next week voters across 21 of Wales’ 22 unitary authorities will head to the polls to decide the political make-up...

Bargaining on equality: a challenge to the trade unions?

“If we want to see women in positions of power in society – how do we achieve it?” This was...

Behind the excuses and the finger pointing – the bitter pill of party funding

So here we are again. Once more the headlines boom with a brand new ‘cash-for influence’ scandal. Peter Cruddas, millionaire...

Reporting back from Welsh Labour Conference

By Owain Llyr ap Gareth, Research and Campaigns Officer, Electoral Reform Society Wales After entering the empty room an hour before...

House of Lords

House of Lords reform: Independence, expertise and a strange case of false logic

The argument that independence and expertise exist in abundance amongst our current peers is now being cited as a key...

No more excuses: Why gender matters in politics

What would society be like if four out of five parliamentarians were women? Maybe we’d be failing on men’s health;...

“Aren’t you a bit small to be our Police and Crime Commissioner?”

Jane Basham was the Labour PCC candidate for Suffolk “Nearly toppled the establishment…” …..Is what colleagues have said after my...