The Reformer

How May’s London Assembly elections will work

This May, millions of Londoners will go to the polls to vote for the Mayor and the London Assembly. The...

How elections for the Mayor of London will work

On May 6, one year after elections were supposed to be held, more than six million Londoners will be called...

This is the first time that the Commissions advice has been ignored

What is the House of Lords Appointments Commission?

A little-known non-departmental public body, the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC), has recently been thrust into the spotlight, following...

Voters of all parties suffered in some part of the UK

Who benefits from Westminster’s First Past the Post voting system?

Westminster's voting system hurts voters. Here's how.

The Electoral Commission is not an all-encompassing democracy watchdog

What does the Electoral Commission do?

The Electoral Commission is an independent body established in 2001. Its mandate is limited by what is set out in...

With PR, the number of MPs in parliament are ‘in proportion’ to the votes cast

What is proportional representation?

Lots of people think the way we vote in the UK isn’t fair. They want something called proportional representation. But...

To vote you must be registered by the 26th of November

How do you register to vote and when do you have to do it by?

Whilst registration statistics have gone dramatically up since the date for the next general election became official, arguably the level...

Voters shouldn’t have to change their behaviour to work around first past the post’s failings

What is tactical voting and why is it bad for democracy?

In a Westminster election, tactical voting takes place when a voter chooses a candidate whom they wouldn’t normally support, in...

What is a hung parliament?

Across the country, a total of 650 Members of Parliament are elected to the Commons, with one per constituency. Under...

Outside of Westminster, most ways of electing parliaments and assemblies don’t involve wasting so many votes.

Where is proportional representation used in the UK?

Westminster’s voting system is well and truly broken. The system with which we elect our MPs is struggling to produce...

Tokyo

How do elections work in Japan?

For the next six weeks the eyes of the world will be fixed on Japan. Ok, probably not all the...

House of Lords

An elected House of Lords wouldn’t just be a clone of the House of Commons

The Electoral Reform Society has long campaigned for the House of Lords to be abolished and replaced with a new...