Here is just a highlight of the coverage our campaigns have received in the press this month.
MPs call for end to ‘political gender gap’ at Westminster
We coordinated the media for the Centenary Action Group’s campaign to make the government implement S106 of the Equality Act 2010. Already part of the law, this section would make political parties reveal their candidate ‘gender gaps’. The campaign was picked up by the Daily Mail and Financial Times, and the Guardian published our letter.
Electoral Reform Society says pupils want democracy lessons
ERS Cymru has been travelling around Wales talking to pupils about what they want to see in citizenship education classes. The launch of the Our Voices Heard report with Kirsty William AM was covered by BBC Wales.
Make Debates Happen petition hits parliamentary target with 100,000 signatures
Following our Debating the TV Debates research, we gave our support to Sky News’ Make Debates Happen petition. They’ve now hit 100,000 so it should get a debate in parliament.
Fury as Tories refuse to reveal cost of ‘unnecessary’ voter fraud crackdown
We continued our campaign to reveal the true cost of the government’s voter ID trials. The Mirror and the Local Government Chronical both covered the exorbitant cost. The first trial cost £1.7million, but Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith has refused to say how much next May’s pilot will cost.
The democratic disaster of 90 seats reserved for men in Parliament
The Scotsman published a piece by our Chief Executive Darren Hughes on the ludicrous practice of hereditary peer by-elections, while the Daily Mail investigated some of the House of Lord’s less active members.
The UK’s democracy is in danger of backsliding – but current policy proposals are not the right fix
Our work on designing campaign regulations fit for the digital age was covered in the Guardian and Director of Research Jess Garland responded to Democratic Audit’s recent report The UK’s Changing Democracy,