News and Comment

The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.

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Why it’s time to shine a light on ‘dark ads’ online

Following a request by the Culture Media and Sport committee, Facebook has revealed the EU referendum adverts paid for by Vote Leave and created by Aggregate IQ. In the modern world of campaigning, political parties and campaigns can...

Posted 30 Jul 2018

Facebook Dark Ads

It’s time to put ‘take back control’ into action

It’s been a slow path, but the government’s White Paper on Brexit is another step towards giving Parliament a role in the Brexit negotiations. It’s not been without a struggle, though. Because we are still a representative...

Posted 03 Feb 2017

Doing referendums differently

There’s no denying it: referendums have become a central feature of our politics. So it’s about time we started thinking seriously about how we should run them. Since 2011 we have had two UK-wide referendums...

Posted 01 Sep 2016

David Torrance’s guide to the EU referendum cuts through the spin

The following is an introduction to David Torrance’s new guide to the EU referendum, which the ERS are supporting. Darren Hughes is Deputy Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society.  As the UK’s longest-standing democracy organisation,...

Posted 25 Apr 2016