Electoral Reform Society External News Items

ERS response to Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill Committee recommendations

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society has welcomed the recommendation published today from the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. The Society’s Chief Executive Dr Ken Ritchie said "the Committee is clearly of the opinion that the Government has not earned the right to use the grand title of ‘constitutional renewal’ to describe a modest set of proposals and constitutional corrections.”

ELECTORAL REFORM SOCIETY RESPONSE TO VOTES AT 16 AT NPF

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society has responded to the decision at Labour’s National Policy Forum (NPF) to back the lowering of the voting age to 16

RESPONSE TO WHITE PAPER ON LORDS REFORM

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society's response to the White Paper on Lords Reform

AV � Progress, but no �final destination�

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society has described Peter Hain’s call for the abandonment of First-Past-the-Post voting at Westminster as ‘a welcome first step’, as the former cabinet minister prepares to make the case for the Alternative Vote (AV).

ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society has responded to today’s publication of the Empowerment White Paper by the department for Department for Communities and Local Government. The Society has attacked the DCLG’s decision to ignore recommendations from its own Councillors Commission on the piloting of proportional representation for local elections.

Next steps on electoral reform �presumed lost�

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Reformers have reacted with consternation to today’s publication of the Governance of Britain: One Year On document. The document, which outlines next steps on all areas of the Governance of Britain programme, has pointedly avoided indicating any “next steps” on electoral reform, whereas trivial matters such as weekend voting and the status of protests outside parliament have all been presented in mind-numbing detail.

WOMEN�S BREAKTHROUGH AT NEXT ELECTION �IMPOSSIBLE�

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

As the country marks eighty years since universal suffrage, analysis of parliamentary candidates has revealed that the parties have not done enough to ensure that an increase in women MPs is even a possibility.

Electoral Reform Society Response to Scottish Parliament Committee Elections Report

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The Electoral Reform Society has welcomed the Local Government and Communities Scottish Parliamentary committee’s report on last year’s elections as having a number of sensible recommendations. The Society has not, however, endorsed every conclusion reached by the Local Government and Communities Committee which has published its report on the problems that arose in the 2007 elections.

Votes at 16: �the time is right�

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Today Labour’s Julie Morgan will stand shoulder to shoulder with Conservative John Bercow and Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson to make the case for lowering the voting age to sixteen. The cross party group of MPs, together with young people from across Britain, are gathering in Westminster to mark the launch of the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill.

Local Election �Freakshow� rolls on

Fri, 2 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

While the overall pattern of yesterday’s elections was one of Conservative successes and Labour woes, council-by-council results are showing party fortunes depended just as much on the lottery of our voting system as they did on their political support.