Voters prefer decisions made by panels balanced between men and women Men still dominate political decision-making in the United Kingdom. Women hold just one or two seats on prestigious select committees in the House of Commons, like Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Justice. No women sit on... Posted 21 Nov 2023
Wales is leading the way as registering to vote is set to get easier The age-old adage about waiting for a bus and two turning up at once seemed particularly appropriate last week as we gave evidence on the Elections and Elected Bodies Bill to a Senedd Committee. This... Posted 20 Nov 2023
One year to win local proportional representation in Wales A year from today, November 15, 2024, is the last day before the next election where your councillors can decide to bring local democracy into the 21st century. I am talking about how councillors are... Posted 15 Nov 2023
We gave evidence to MSs on a new Bill to reform the Senedd – here’s what we said In September a new piece of legislation was introduced into the Senedd, which looks set to change how the Welsh Parliament looks and works. The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill, if passed, will see... Posted 10 Nov 2023
Why independent candidates win with the Single Transferable Vote Currently, there are 14 independent MPs in the House of Commons, which might seem to suggest Independent candidates can win under First-Past-The-Post (FPTP). But these MPs are only independent because they were suspended from their... Posted 01 Nov 2023
Welsh Government introduce Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill Next year the Senedd will mark a quarter of a century since its establishment. For many of those 25 years it has been apparent that the Senedd is too small. At just 60 members the... Posted 18 Sep 2023
Welsh Government to introduce progressive electoral reforms Last week in the Senedd, First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the Welsh Government’s plans for legislation for the next year. This covered eight new bills which the government hopes will become law. There was a... Posted 06 Jul 2023
New Era, New Democracy: How can a UK Labour government lead the way on reform? (Welsh Labour Conference) This ERS Cymru and Labour for a New Democracy fringe event will look at how a UK Labour government can reform the UK’s democracy and learn lessons from innovative changes to elections led by the... Posted 21 Feb 2023
Welcome to Your Vote Week – Raising young people’s political awareness This week is Welcome to Your Vote Week, a campaign by the Electoral Commission to spark campaigners across the UK to speak to students in schools and raise young people’s political awareness. Amidst a global... Posted 02 Feb 2023
We told the Welsh Government our suggestions for how to remove barriers to voting Since elections were devolved to Wales in the Wales Act 2017 there have been a lot of changes for Welsh democracy. We’ve seen the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds and... Posted 31 Jan 2023