You might have noticed that there’s a general election approaching. Whilst the date of the election may have taken us all a little by surprise, the ERS communications team were ready to go and making our issues headline news during the campaign.
The team are always working hard to get our issues onto the desks of Ministers and journalists, pushing vital democratic issues higher up the news agenda to increase public support.
At such an important time for British democracy it’s important for everyone to take stock of what we need to do to make our democracy fairer for everyone.
Reforming the House of Lords
With the launch of the manifestos the public got answers on how each of the main parties would choose to deal with our bloated and undemocratic second Chamber. Labour have declared a number of reforms will be in their priorities, if election; an age cap and productivity requirements on all Lords, and an end to the 92 aristocratic hereditary peers. All to eventually work towards a second chamber that is representative of the nation’s regions and nations.
Of course, as longtime campaigners for an elected second chamber we were asked for our opinion. We expressed our support for the proposed changes in the I and the Express.
Extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds
Another announcement made by the Labour campaign in the last few weeks has been the intention to extend the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds, if elected. This is a huge win for us here at the ERS, as we have long been campaigning on this issue. We were featured in the Independent and GB News.
The millions missing from the electoral register
The huge amount of people who failed to make the registration deadline to vote in the General Election has highlighted our campaign for Automatic Voter Registration (AVR). A simple change that is likely to happen in Wales and would mean that one more administrative, time-consuming task is taken out of the hands of voters. We were featured in the Mirror and Politico and our Director of Research & Policy, Dr. Jess Garland, was invited onto the Politics Home podcast, the Rundown, to discuss this issue.
Proportional representation and safe seats
Thanks to our disproportionate electoral system, it’s no wonder that many voters feel they must turn to tactical voting to feel their vote counts and makes a difference. This is an issue we have been asked to discuss with many journalists, including the Independent.
Due to our unfair voting system, we compiled data showing that over 100 seats in the UK have not changed hands for 100 years or more. This research was featured in Byline Times, the Conversation, and the Big Issue. On the Pod Save the UK podcast Dr. Jess Garland was invited in to discuss how safe seats are breaking our electoral system.
Whatever the outcome of the General Election, the Electoral Reform Society team will be looking for every opportunity to make democratic reform front-page news.
Support the ERS
As momentum builds for electoral reform, your support is more important than ever. Members support our work in parliament, in the press and online – making the case, and backing it up – for how we can fix Westminster’s broken system.
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