Calls for Labour to back reform grow as members back PR in record numbers With Labour’s conference set to begin next week the debate on electoral reform looks set to be one of the big issues on conference floor this year. At least 144 constituency parties have called on... Posted 14 Sep 2021
Help shape the Electoral Reform Society by voting in our Council Elections In the upcoming weeks, members of the Electoral Reform Society will be voting in this year’s ERS Council elections. The candidates are their fellow members, who have spent the last few weeks putting together their... Posted 10 Sep 2021
How do elections work in Norway? Like most European countries, Norway first adopted proportional representation in the early 20th century, with this October representing 100 years since Norwegians elected their first proportional parliament. Posted 09 Sep 2021
5 events not to miss at Labour conference Support is growing across the Labour movement for reform of Westminster’s creaking electoral system. 83% of Labour members support PR according to the latest polling, and over 250 CLPs have already passed local policy in... Posted 09 Sep 2021
Barriers to entry: How do electoral thresholds work? A common feature of many Party List PR systems is an electoral threshold – a pre-set bar that parties have to reach if they want to win seats. Posted 03 Sep 2021
How do Westminster election results compare to those of devolved institutions? This May, the sixth set of elections took place for each of the devolved institutions in the nations of Britain – the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) and the London Assembly. It was a... Posted 20 Aug 2021
Analysis: Police and Crime Commissioners and the Supplementary Vote The re-run of May’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election in Wiltshire and Swindon takes place on the 19th August, after the winning candidate was disbarred due to a historical driving conviction. The original election... Posted 19 Aug 2021
Which votes get transferred with the Single Transferable Vote? The first meetings of the Electoral Reform Society, then known as the Proportional Representation Society, quickly settled on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the best option for electoral reform. Posted 17 Aug 2021
Baroness Randerson on working together, Westminster’s weakness, and ‘recasting’ democracy Baroness Jenny Randerson speaks to Josiah Mortimer about reforming the Welsh and UK electoral systems and the future of devolution. Posted 12 Aug 2021
Hare vs Droop: How to set the quota under STV The first meetings of the Proportional Representation Society quickly attracted many leading lights of the Victorian age – including Lewis Carroll, CP Scott (editor of what is now The Guardian) and Thomas Hare (the inventor... Posted 10 Aug 2021