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Which is the best electoral system for the House of Lords?

Whenever the issue of creating an elected Second Chamber comes up, a common question is how it should be elected. Thankfully, one of the areas of agreement on Lords reform over the years has been...

Posted 27 Dec 2023

The benefits of proportional representation for a reformed House of Lords are clear

How many peers are there in the House of Lords – and how many does it need?

One of the unique features of our currently second chamber, apart from it being unelected and still partially based on inherited titles, is that its membership is huge. At over 800 peers in total, not...

Posted 21 Dec 2023

At over 800 peers in total, it dwarfs all other second chambers around the world

The Non-Battleground Election: Millions of voters are ignored

Last week, the Labour Party started the process of selecting their general election candidates for 211 ‘non-battleground’ constituencies in England. The description of these seats as being ‘non-battleground’ is telling, implying that Labour will not...

Posted 18 Dec 2023

Around 400 seats will see very little, if any, local campaigning from either of the two major UK parties

The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2023

Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first...

Posted 14 Dec 2023

Fewer than one-in-four support prime ministers handing out peerages to parachute people into cabinet

Our recent polling, covered by the Daily Mirror, has found that fewer than one-in-four individuals think it is acceptable for prime ministers to appoint peers to the House of Lords so they can parachute them...

Posted 12 Dec 2023

Only one-in-four think it is OK to hand out peerages in order to parachute people into cabinet

Unfinished Business: New report shows routes to an elected Second Chamber

Reform of the House of Lords is both hugely popular with the public and very long overdue. Yet in any serious discussion of how to achieve reform, the same questions come up: What about Commons...

Posted 11 Dec 2023

Unfinished Business Routes to an Elected Second Chamber

How do countries around the world deal with overseas voters?

In October, legislation was introduced which would enable over 3 million more British citizens to vote. Wondering where the government have found 3 million extra voters? They’re the long-term UK diaspora, as the Guardian termed...

Posted 08 Dec 2023

Over 3 million more British citizens might be able to vote in the next election

Government report can’t say if voter ID made any difference to problem it was supposed to solve

The government has published its evaluation of the Elections Act changes, including the voter ID requirement, used for the first time in the English local elections in May. Back in September, three separate independent reports...

Posted 08 Dec 2023

14,000 voters were turned away - was voter ID worth it?

Powys and Gwynedd lead the way for Welsh councils with consultation votes

There was fantastic news for voters coming out of Powys and Gwynedd today, as their County Councils have voted YES to public consultations on scrapping First Past the Post for their elections and bringing in...

Posted 07 Dec 2023

Powys and Gwynedd Councils have both voted YES to a public consultation on First Past the Post

Strong government vs good government? First Past the Post means our governments will always fail to deliver

Government failures are always in the news, but we rarely question why it is that our governments often seem so wholly incapable of delivering on their objectives. It’s easy to point at individual ministers and...

Posted 30 Nov 2023