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The Electoral Commission’s letter on the Elections Bill is unprecedented

The Electoral Commission has written an unprecedented letter to the government, calling for them to reconsider provisions in the Elections Bill that would undermine the Commission’s role of oversight of our elections. The Commission’s letter,...

Posted 22 Feb 2022

Electoral Commission: Elections Bill would ‘allow ministers to shape how electoral law is applied to them’

ERS in the Press: January 2022

Scandal and crisis at the heart of government have dominated the news as we begin 2022. Yet in a packed news cycle of covid regulation breaking parties in Downing Street, and a pantomime-esque will-they-won’t-they over...

Posted 04 Feb 2022

The government aren’t listening – make your voices heard on 5th February

Join the Elections Bill Rally in Parliament Square. The passing of the government’s Election Bill through the House of Commons last week was a huge blow to democracy. It now heads to the Lords, with...

Posted 28 Jan 2022

Now it’s over to the Lords to prevent the government’s assault on democracy

Yesterday was a dark day for democracy. Despite widespread opposition from campaigners, election experts, academics and civil society the government’s Elections Bill successfully passed through the commons. The Bill includes clauses introducing voter ID, more...

Posted 18 Jan 2022

This bill will put too much power in the hands of the government

The government should stop and re-think Elections Bill as it returns to the Commons

The government’s Elections Bill returns to the House of Commons on Monday 17th January despite the opposition against their plans growing from all sides of the chamber. The bill has faced fierce opposition from campaigners,...

Posted 14 Jan 2022

The Elections Bill will hand huge powers to the government over our elections

Even senior MPs agree the government needs to pause and rethink the Elections Bill

Earlier this week, the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs (PACAC) select committee published the final report of its inquiry into the Elections Bill. In a highly critical report, the influential committee heeded...

Posted 17 Dec 2021

Senior MPs tell government evidence has simply not been good enough

The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2021

Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first...

Posted 13 Dec 2021

What is the Elections Bill? And why is it an issue?

Earlier this month, the government published its long-awaited Elections Bill which makes changes to the administration and conduct of elections with the stated aim of ensuring that ‘UK elections remain secure, fair, modern, inclusive and...

Posted 23 Jul 2021

The bill fails to tackle the fundamental issues with our electoral law

How can we better regulate our elections?

Earlier this month, buried amidst the many reactions to the government’s Elections Bill, the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) published its report on regulating election finance, following a year-long inquiry to which we...

Posted 20 Jul 2021

If the government really wants to improve the integrity of our elections, they should consider the findings of the CSPL

Stephen Kinnock MP: Democracy is in retreat – and the government’s Elections Bill fails to face up to the challenge

The Elections Bill – introduced to the Commons on Monday - does not reflect the seriousness of the challenges our democracy faces from dark and dirty money, which has the potential to fundamentally corrupt our...

Posted 13 Jul 2021