We were asked to address MPs on the Representation of the People Bill committee

This week MPs sitting on the Representation of the People Bill committee took evidence before the bill starts committee stage – the line-by-line examination of the legislation.

Expert witnesses are called to give evidence at this stage to assist the committee with examining and improving the bill as it goes through parliament.

As Director of Policy and Research at the Electoral Reform Society, I was invited to give evidence on the bill. It is always encouraging to be asked. It reflects something important: that Parliament values the views of organisations like ours when democratic issues are under discussion.

I was questioned on a range of issues, from the impact of voter ID and whether changes in the bill will reduce the barriers for voters, to what needs to happen to make Votes at 16 a success and whether the bill will address the weaknesses in our political finance regulations.

What struck me during the session was how often we return to questions of trust. How do we give people confidence in the system? How do we ensure trust in the process?

These are important questions. But trust is not just about safeguards. It is about whether people feel their voice matters. If the system repeatedly fails to represent their choices, if they are excluded from the process, people lose faith in democracy.

Asked by the democracy minister how the bill was keeping pace with an ever-changing world, I shared concerns that, by not tackling the voting system, it was not keeping pace with our dramatically changing electoral environment – how this new environment means First Past the Post electoral system is increasingly failing to deliver for voters.

We cannot rebuild confidence in democracy without addressing that disconnect.

The Committee will review the bill in detail and make amendments over the coming weeks before it returns to the Commons for report stage.

Sharing the many ERS research briefings we have written for parliamentarians in recent weeks and helping to shape legislation is one of the ways we make the case for proportional representation.

Whenever I speak to MPs, I don’t do it alone – thousands of ERS members support our work in parliament, in the press and online – making the case, and backing it up – for how we can fix Westminster’s broken system.