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The Electoral Reform Society's elected council
The Council
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The Council is the governing body of the Society, with ultimate responsibility for its governance and administration. The Council consists of 15 members, elected every other year by the Single Transferable Vote.


Members of the Council elect five of their group to act as Officers and undertake specific administrative duties on behalf of the Council.

The Electoral Reform Society Council



John Ault, Chair

John Ault lectures in Political Research and Practice at Canterbury Christ Church University. Having researched the electoral impacts of political campaigning for his thesis he also lectures at Exeter University. At present he is also a campaigns consultant for the National Trust.

Elected to Cornwall Council in 2005 he was also a member of the South West Regional Assembly. He co-authored the Liberal Democrat Campaign Manual and has been agent for several parliamentary by-elections. In the 2011 AV referendum John was the regional organiser for the North West.

He has also appeared on BBC's Top Gear where he won the prestigious honour of being the UK's fastest politician!

Jonathan Bartley, Vice Chair (Management)

Jonathan Bartley is Director of the thinktank Ekklesia and a regular writer, public speaker and commentator on television and radio. A panellist on BBC1's 'The Big Questions', he can also be heard commentating on Radio 5 Live and Radio 2. He was a vice-chair of the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign during the AV referendum.

Jonathan is a member of the Green Party and after graduating from the LSE he worked in the House of Commons on a cross-party basis, including with John Major during the 1995 Tory leadership election. In 2000 he ran a dot com start up, and has raised over £1 million for charity.

He has a special interest in disability issues and is a trustee of the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, and the Inclusion Trust. He has lectured and tutored at Sarum College in Salisbury and is the author of a number of books examining religion and public life. He also plays in the blues band The Mustangs and was nominated as best drummer in the British Blues Awards 2010.


Amy Dodd, Deputy Chair (Campaigns)

Amy has spent the last several years managing and winning campaigns with the Labour Party - from local elections to national campaigns.

Her work on these campaigns has helped her to develop a broad and diverse network throughout the Labour Party and civil society organisations. She has an excellent knowledge and understanding of campaigns and campaign delivery, from budgets to strategy.


Keith Sharp, Deputy Chair (Group Relations)

Keith was Society Vice Chair from 2009 and previously served as Campaigns Committee chair, a position he held for five years. He writes and speaks on electoral reform, having joined the Society in 1978 with the belief that the First Past the Post system  cripples our democracy.

He has also been a parliamentary candidate and local councillor, for the
Liberal Democrats, and is a charity trustee in north London. Away from
politics, Keith is a marketing and public affairs professional.


Chris Carrigan, Treasurer

Chris Carrigan is the founder of Esteliant a company that specialises in complex mutli-organisational change and the creation of networked organisations.

Before creating Esteliant Chris was a partner at Accenture one of the world’s leading management consultancy firms. He now works predominantly with International charities on global restructuring.

Chris is an active electoral reform campaigner and was responsible for the creation of the Reform Groups Network following his role as chairman of the successful Oxford Yes to Fairer Votes Campaign.



Jessica Asato

Jessica is a former Director of the Labour Yes campaign for the 2011 AV referendum.

She is currently Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society and a Councillor in the London Borough of Islington, as well as School Governor at Tufnell Park School and Founder of the Gareth Butler History Trust.


 Andrew Burns

I’ve been an active member of the ERS for some 20-years now. I'm based in Edinburgh and a fulltime elected member of the City of Edinburgh Local Authority.

I was first elected as a Local Councillor in 1999, again in 2003, and eventually re-elected by STV in 2007 and 2012! I’m a seasoned and experienced campaigner, and currently leader of the City of Edinburgh Council. I live in central Edinburgh with my wife and one child.


Clare Coatman

Clare Coatman has worked on a range of projects within the democratic reform sector including as National Coordinator for High Visibility with Yes to Fairer Votes, Head of Operations for Power2010 and Participation Manager for the Convention on Modern Liberty.

As one of the founders of Take Back Parliament Clare Coatman is an experienced activist and has been involved in activism since being a school student spokesperson during the Iraq War protests. She is currently Marketing and Fundraising Manager for openDemocracy.

Arnie Craven

Arnie was elected to Council in 2011, after working as Leeds Campaign Coordinator for Yes2AV. He lives in Wakefield district, and is Vice Chair of UKIP Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford.

He has advocated wide scale political reform for many years, and considers it a disaster that not enough has been done to reach out to more right-wing constitutional reformists. After the AV referendum, he worked with local activists to set up Leeds' first ever constitutional reform campaigning group. The group; Leeds for Constitutional Reform, now has over thirty members and tirelessly works to keep constitutional reform on the agenda. At the first meeting of this group, Arnie was elected Secretary.

Arnie attended the University of Leeds, where he read for a degree in European Politics. He graduated in 2010 with an upper second class degree.

George Gabriel

George Gabriel is a democrat and community organiser, working to build powerful citizens' organisations to make change and rehabilitate public life in Britain.

As a founder of Take Back Parliament and staffer to the Yes campaign George has real campaigning experience of the sector and is focussed on developing the campaigning strength and imagination of the Electoral Reform Society.

Amisha Ghadiali

Designer & Campaigner Amisha Ghadiali, is a creative communicator of ideas for social change.

Founder of jewellery label, amisha.elegance.rebellion, and of radical think-and-do tank, Think Act Vote, she has also worked as Associate Director of the Ethical Fashion Forum and as Vice-Chair of the Yes to Fairer Votes Campaign.

Amisha’s social entrepreneurship has been recognised by selection to the Cultural Leadership Programme and the Courvoisier Future 500, a Future 100 Award, and, among other honours, a Fellowship of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Annabelle Harle

Annabelle was born in Kent, attended school there, read French and Spanish at Nottingham University and then trained as a translator at the Central London Polytechnic.

She has worked in the Lord Chancellor’s Department; as a freelance translator; at the National Assembly for Wales and as Director of ERS Wales. She is a longstanding member of the Labour Party.

She has two children and lives in Cardiff where she enjoys hearing Welsh National Opera and Hoddinott Hall concerts whenever possible.

Andrew May

Andy May joined the ERS Council in September 2011. He currently works as a consultant at a public relations firm. He began his career five years ago working for the Liberal Democrats, scoring success in local election campaigns before moving to the marketing department at Amnesty International UK.

In 2010/11 he worked on several constitutional reform campaigns including Power2010, Take Back Parliament and Yes to Fairer Votes where he was responsible for a team of staff delivering the ‘Yes2AV’ regional activism and media effort.

He has a broad range of experience covering advocacy, grassroots campaigning, fundraising and direct marketing which he hopes to draw upon on ERS Council

Michael Meadowcroft

Michael Meadowcroft has been active in Liberal politics for over fifty years and has been an elected officer at every level of the party.

Until recently he was chair of Leeds Liberal Democrats. He was a Leeds City Councillor for fifteen years and a West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Councillor for six years. He was the Liberal MP for Leeds West, 1983-87. Over the past twenty years he has led or been a member of fifty-two pro-democracy missions to thirty-six different countries, mainly for the United Nations or the European Union.

Michael was the Chair of the Electoral Reform Society, 1989-93 and is a trustee of the Arthur McDougall Trust. He has a large archive of publications - mostly available on his website - including three editions of "The Politics of Electoral Reform." He has been a regular performer on television and radio.


Anthony Tuffin

Anthony is a widower, living on the Sussex coast with his partner. Between them, they have seven grandchildren.

Anthony is a retired pensions consultant; Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (the company secretaries’ institute) and the Pensions Management Institute. He is also a member of the Consumers’ Association, the Institute of Advanced Motorists and ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).

Anthony had been a member of ERS since the 1960s and a Council member since 1999 except 2002-03. He was Campaigns Committee Chair 2000-02 and Treasurer 2008-2011.

Anthony is the Editor of stvaction.org.uk and is Chair of Make Votes Count in West Sussex. He was a Liberal Party activist, officer and agent from 1959 until 1988, but has not been a member of any party since then.
Recent News
16 May 2012
An important victory for voters, but no time for complacency
Jess Garland, Policy and Research Officer at the Electoral Reform Society   In the wake of the pomp and pageantry of the Queen’s speech last week, a victory for the voter emerged from the Cabinet Office in the form of the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill.   Last year the government’s draft bill on electoral registration seemed set to disenfranchise millions, creating a mockery of our electoral system by enabling citizens to simply ‘opt out’ of their democratic right to vote. The Electoral Commission estimated the proposals could lead to a drop in the completeness of electoral registers from over 90% to 65%.   Following months of campaigning by the Society, in which we presented evidence to the committee and lobbied hard to remove the most harmful elements of the bill, the bill introduced last Thursday is a million miles from its original draft. Gone is the bizarre ‘opt out’ and the annual canvass, critical for reaching voters who have moved during the year, has been reintroduced for 2014 (albeit by delaying the 2013 canvass). ERS has long argued that an annual canvass is necessary in the year individual registration is introduced in order to capture the two to three million people who will have moved in the months between canvass and introduction. It is also heartening to see that the government has listened to the Society’s concerns about abolishing the fine which registration officers rely on. The government will now legislate for a civil penalty similar to a parking fine.   Whilst we welcome these changes, it is no time for complacency. The devil is in the detail of the regulations and we will be scrutinising both this bill and the secondary legislation to ensure we do not see the sort of drop experienced in Northern Ireland when individual electoral registration was introduced there. The impact on postal and proxy voters is still a concern. Research by Scope found that in 2010, 67% of polling stations had one or more significant access barriers for disabled voters. It cannot be right that people with a regular postal or proxy vote who fail to notice the change are required to attend a polling station in order to exercise their democratic right.   The missing millions are still out there. With electoral registers only 87% complete at present we need to not only ensure more people do not drop off the register but to look at ways to increase registration across the board. Depleted electoral registers have greater democratic implications. They will be used to draw the next set of constituency boundaries which means unrepresentative registers will lead to unrepresentative constituencies – with some MPs representing many more constituents than others, most likely in inner city areas.   The leader of the opposition announced this weekend that his party would begin a voter registration drive. Clearly low levels of registration should be a concern to politicians, but is enough being done to tackle the root causes of the issue? Low registration is closely linked to low turnout but it is also indicative of a wider disconnect. Making voter registration easier will not address the underlying problems but it is an important step in making the processes of democracy more in-tune with ordinary citizens’ lives.   Abolishing the archaic system of household registration is the first step in what could be a greater modernisation of our electoral system; creating one that is appropriate for 21st century citizens and their lives. Individual electoral registration opens the door to further innovations in future, such as linking electoral registration to other citizen-state transactions like applying for a driving licence and online registration.   In October last year the proposals for individual voter registration were being called the biggest political scandal you’ve never heard of. The Society has campaigned hard to make voters' voices heard, and the government has listened. We have a better bill as a result.     To find out more about what the ERS has done on electoral registration visit our missing millions campaign page
9 May 2012
Politicians have to put self interest aside on Lords reform
Katie Ghose, Chief Executive, Electoral Reform Society   Well another Queen’s Speech has come and gone.   We can only welcome the government’s pledge to legislate on reform of the upper house. But Lords Reform will take more than words; it will require action.   If you hold the power to help decide how Britain is run you should be elected by us, the British public - that’s democracy. The public know it, so how long can a small privileged clique of politicians afford to fool themselves?   In the current economic climate to be handed a job for life because your father was a lord, and to be able to turn up, claim £300 and go home again, is quite simply an embarrassment.   Hearing politicians bewailing the time it will take to pass Lords reform, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that it is their petty in-fighting that will prolong the process.   There is no reason for this process to be drawn out. MPs from the three main parties were elected on a commitment to Lords reform, the proposals are backed up by consensus from a century of debate and public opinion is behind an elected second chamber.   If we blow this opportunity now we’re going to end up spending another hundred years of our parliament’s time trying to undo that mistake. We cannot allow the turkeys to veto Christmas. Politicians’ self interest must not be allowed to waste any more of our time.
9 May 2012
England let down by elections as Scotland leads the way
Willie Sullivan, Director, Electoral Reform Society Scotland Since Thursday’s local elections we’ve been crunching the numbers. Did voters get a fair deal? What has breaking from First Past the Post meant for Scotland?   Well what we’re seeing is a widening gulf between local democracy in England and Scotland.   We’ve focused on six English and Scottish cities and its’ clear English voters are drawing the short straw - with less choice and less chance of affecting the result on polling day.   A tale of 6 Cities - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Manchester:
City Edin. Glas. Dundee Portsm. B.ham Manc.
Voter Choice

 

 

 

 

 

 
Candidates/Ward

7.47

10.67

7.75

3.86

5.23

4.91
Parties/Ward

6.41

8.38

5.63

3.79

5.20

4.75
Representation

 

 

 

 

 

 
Voters getting who they voted for (%)

72.66

75.93

79.78

46.17

54.98

65.22
Women’s representation (%)

25.86

30.38

24.14

14.30

42.50

34.4
Voting system

STV

STV

STV

FPTP

FPTP

FPTP
Estimated National Turnout

Scotland 42%

England 32%
  Scotland abandoned First Past the Post for local government elections in 2007 and adopted the Single Transferrable Vote form of Proportional Representation. This has brought competitive elections into all the local ‘One Party States’ that once blighted Scottish politics.   Scottish voters got more choice at the polls and more chance of deciding who speaks in their name in their town halls. And while most Scots got a councillor they backed for their trouble, most of the English just threw their votes away (33,000 in Birmingham, 27,000 in Portsmouth, and 90,000 in Birmingham alone).   Glasgow has transformed itself from rotten borough to a multi-party democracy. Scotland now has a local democracy we can all be proud of, and getting rid of First Past the Post made that possible. With the Single Transferable Vote people have got a real say on who runs their local authorities.   Voters in England should settle for nothing less.  
8 May 2012
Women’s Legislative Recruitment: no simple explanation, no single panacea
Rosie Campbell, Birkbeck University London & Sarah Childs, University of Bristol   It is a widely held view that the first-past-the-post electoral system disadvantages women and that electoral reform would improve the representation of women in the UK Parliament. In Westminster elections party candidates are selected constituency by constituency – too often women are selected for the party’s less winnable seats. Only on election-day does it become obvious that the House of Commons is once again over-represented by men. Proportional representation is, however, neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for improving the political representation of women. This is not to say that a more proportional system is not desirable but the surest and most immediate way to guarantee a fairer representation of women in elected bodies is to apply quota rules, irrespective of the electoral system.   Evidence from the UK and around the world clearly demonstrates that operating under a more proportional electoral system is no guarantor of women’s political representation. Whilst at first glance the Scottish Parliament appears to be an example of electoral reform working in women’s favour, when we look more closely at the figures we see that the high numbers of women returned to the Scottish parliament can be largely attributed to the Labour party’s use of twinning in its single member constituencies rather than high numbers of women in the party lists.  We don’t wish to argue that electoral reform is of no benefit to women, moments of constitutional change often provide a window where women can disturb the political order and demand space in the new institutional arrangements. But the choice of PR is important. In OSCE countries with a party list system of PR there are on average 4-6% more women in lower house. List systems can make initiatives to improve the representation of women easier to implement, and harder to ignore. Certainly in a closed list system parties can ‘zip’ men and women candidates, alternating them on the party list, and therefore greatly increasing the likelihood of women getting elected and not just selected. Should a party place all of their women candidates at the bottom of the list the distribution of seat winnablity by sex of candidate would be plain for all to see.   Global Trends: the case for quotas   When it comes to the global league table of women’s representation there are some surprising countries in the top ten. In fact if you ask undergraduate students of politics to rank order countries by the percentage of women in the legislature fail they invariably fail to get the right order.   Top 10 Percentage of women in lower or single house in rank order
  1. Rwanda 56.3%
  2. Andorra 50.0%
  3. Cuba 45.2%
  4. Sweden 44.7%
  5. Seychelles 43.8%
  6. Finland 42.5%
  7. South Africa 42.3%
  8. Netherlands 40.7%
  9. Nicaragua 40.2%
  10. Iceland 39.7%
www.ipu.org   Their expectations – and no doubt others – is that established democracies will do  best. In fact this is rarely the case. The UK House of Commons does particularly poorly, with just over 20% women MPs, coming in at an embarrassing 49th place. It is beaten by other European countries, including Spain, Portugal and Belgium even as it is ahead of France and the US. The scale of women’s under-representation in the UK Parliament is often met with surprise; perhaps because women MPs often wearing bright jackets are highly visible against a background of grey suits, and perhaps too because they are used strategically by party leaders - ‘doughnutting’ the Prime Minister on the Parliamentary benches, or on the campaign trail, or at press conferences.   Around the world the single most important factor related to higher levels of women’s representation is the use of quotas. About half of the top 20 OSCE countries registering sharpest growth in women’s representation have used legal quotas; of the bottom twenty none had such constitutional requirements. Sure, there has been overall improvement in women’s representation over time, but there is no simple linear trend, with stagnation in some countries and regions, for example, Scandinavia, and fall back in others, such as those countries that make up the post-soviet space, and in Scotland and Wales.  In other cases there has been substantial and steady growth (Switzerland, Spain, Austria) and in yet others sudden rises (Belgium and the  Netherlands). In all this, there is no clear unambiguous relationship between electoral system and the proportion of women in the lower house.   The way forward for the UK: time for quotas too   A change in the electoral system in the UK might well have pushed Britain up in the international ranking by a few places. But if we want to see sizeable changes then sex quotas are a better - and arguably post the AV referendum, the easier - choice.  Recall that in 1997 there was a big jump in the number of women MPs:  the figure doubled overnight from 60 to 120. This had nothing to do with the electoral system per se. Instead, it was the Labour party’s use of a quota system, in the form of all-women-shortlists, that accounts for the rise, and explains too their continuing higher levels of women’s representation. In the 2011 parliament they still have more women MPs than all the other parties added together Quotas are, for sure, by no means a simple panacea, they need to be well designed and robustly implemented or some parties will find ways to circumvent them, but they provide nonetheless the most effective means to improve the political representation of women. As one of the recommendations of the 2008-10 Speaker’s Conference made clear, it is time for Parliament to consider legislative quotas for women.   Find out more about the different PR systems and their strengths and weaknesses on The Electoral Reform Society's Voting systems made simple