The Supersized House of Lords   The House of Lords Reform Bill is gone. But the House of Lords remains unsustainable.   At the heart of this problem is the chamber’s scope for growth. The House of Lords is already the largest Second Chamber in the Western world. A chamber that had approximately 50 members in the early 1700s has [...]

Why Boston & Skegness could be UKIP’s Brighton Pavillion Much attention has been paid to the success of UKIP in this year’s county council elections. UKIP won 23% of the vote on a Projected National Share.  Subsequent analysis by Electoral Calculus suggests that UKIP would have to win 24% of the vote to gain a seat.   This prompted the Sun to rightly conclude [...]

From Councillors to MPs   The relationship between performance in local and national elections has not received the attention it deserves.     Pundits will endlessly speculate on what a hammering at midterm means for a sitting government’s prospects. Polls are compared, models compiled, but big questions are left unanswered.   It is chicken and egg territory. Are councillors [...]