ERS is the Press: May 2019 In a month that began and ended with elections for local councils and the European – both of which showed the changing nature of British politics and the continued decline of the two main parties... Posted 05 Jun 2019
Ending the Punch and Judy show: How to get a more cooperative politics There is an uncomfortable fact for those who oppose moves to a fairer voting system: all the chaos we have seen in Westminster over the past few years has been under the ‘strong and stable’... Posted 30 May 2019
Ending the Politics of Division – How We Can Build a New Democracy after Brexit Ten years on from the expenses scandal that rocked trust in our politics and nearly three years since this Brexit deadlock began, Britain’s broken political system remains largely unchanged. No one can deny it: the... Posted 25 May 2019
‘This is What Democracy Looks Like’: Why campaigners are gathering in Manchester 200 years on from the Peterloo Massacre Nearly 200 years ago, thousands of working people gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester with a simple demand: political representation. Local magistrates tried to shut down the meeting – the cavalry charged on the... Posted 15 May 2019
Australian Senate reforms need to go further to put voters back in control Ill-thought-out plans have a habit of coming back and biting you, and it’s no different in politics. In fact, the risks of unintended consequences are even higher, as politicians on one side have an incentive... Posted 30 Apr 2019
ERS in the Press – March 2019 Brexit might be dominating the news, but the rolling constitutional crisis that we call Westminster is still up to its usual tricks. We’ve spent the last month getting press attention for some of our biggest... Posted 29 Mar 2019
While MPs debate our democratic future, another aristocrat takes a seat in Parliament for life On Wednesday – while elected MPs debated Britain’s future – the results came out for the latest in a series of bizarre House of Lords ‘by-elections’. The vote – to fill the vacant seat following... Posted 28 Mar 2019
Why replacing the unelected House of Lords is key to the movement for fair votes For far too many of its members, the second chamber of our Parliament is a private members’ club. The House of Lords – the UK’s revising chamber – is packed to the brim with appointees... Posted 22 Mar 2019
How hereditary aristocrats are still trying to call the shots in Parliament On Friday, a handful of hereditary aristocrats managed to club together to stop even the most modest of attempts to modernise the House of Lords. Lord Grocott’s bill would have ended the absurd practice of... Posted 19 Mar 2019
These three peers should not be allowed to stand in the way of democracy In a week dominated by Brexit, it’s easy to forget that there are other topics still on the political agenda. While our MPs once again grapple over just what kind of Brexit would ‘take back... Posted 15 Mar 2019