David Cameron’s seat at the cabinet table means a seat for life in the Lords David Cameron was appointed as Foreign Secretary this week – but he’s not been an MP since 2016. How is he then taking one of the great offices of state? He’s not going to stand... Posted 16 Nov 2023
The political reforms that were lacking from the King’s Speech Democracy was a conspicuous omission from yesterday’s King’s Speech. The pomp and ceremony of the occasion was the government’s last chance to set out a legislative agenda before the next election. Yet despite Rishi Sunak... Posted 08 Nov 2023
Making the case for electoral reform at Conservative Conference As a non-partisan organisation, we attend all the major party conferences to make the case for electoral reform. There is a long history of electoral reform supporters in the Conservative Party, with Conservative Action for... Posted 05 Oct 2023
Resignation honours are the worst, but all patronage is bad The fact that Liz Truss’s short-term premiership can result in lifetime appointments to the house of House of Lords has rightfully angered many. But it is just an example of business as usual in Westminster,... Posted 23 Aug 2023
Liz Truss’ resignation honours could be a turning point for reform News reports this weekend revealed that Liz Truss’s controversial honours list is making its way through the vetting process with the Cabinet Office and House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC). This suggests that the UK’s... Posted 16 Aug 2023
How honourable are honours lists? Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list caused quite a kerfuffle between the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) and the current and former PM. This all led to a rather slimmed-down list from the much speculated... Posted 11 Jul 2023
The row over Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list highlights why it should be the last The recent days have seen the national focus pulled onto the House of Lords through the public row between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson over the latter’s resignation honours list. While the spat has provided... Posted 13 Jun 2023
New polling shows 61% oppose Boris Johnson’s resignation peerages Our new polling has found that just one in 14 people (7%) support Boris Johnson stuffing more peers into the already bulging House of Lords with his resignation honours list. Polling of 2,050 people, conducted... Posted 28 Mar 2023
How we could make the House of Lords gender equal overnight It is a quiet scandal that 105 years after women first won the vote they are still grossly under-represented in Parliament. Women make up just over a third of MPs in the Commons and the... Posted 08 Mar 2023
What elections should the next government reform? Last week we published a blog on UK electoral reforms since 1997 and highlighted that whilst at Westminster the fight for electoral reform continues, the progress of reform across the UK increased and voters are... Posted 08 Mar 2023