Even council leaders are uncomfortable with the ‘one party states’ of First Past the Post May’s local elections in England showed just how unfit-for-purpose the voting system is, as voters were left with random results and warped council chambers. The elections saw big swings against the two main parties, as... Posted 16 May 2019
England’s 2019 local elections – The places where around half of voters go unrepresented On 2 May, thousands of people were elected to serve as councillors in local authorities across England. While a lot of attention has been given to the overall performances of political parties and independent candidates, little scrutiny... Posted 13 May 2019
ERS in the Press – April 2019 As we geared up for a big round of local elections in England and Northern Ireland, we’ve been putting reform of Britain’s out-dated politics firmly on the agenda. Fair votes now As the Brexit process... Posted 01 May 2019
Local elections: How voter ID trial could undermine the right to vote Here’s something you might not know about Thursday’s local elections: hundreds of thousands of potential voters are being told that unless they bring ID with them, they’ll be turned away. If rolled out nationally –... Posted 30 Apr 2019
Uncontested seats mean thousands of voters will be denied their democratic rights Next week, on Thursday, 2 May, voters in many parts of England will go to the polls to elect their local representatives. Elections will take place in urban metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities and district councils,... Posted 25 Apr 2019
Democracy cancelled: How parties have captured hundreds of seats before local election day Large parts of England are effectively democracy deserts, with hundreds of thousands of potential voters denied real choice in this May’s elections. New research by the Electoral Reform Society ahead of next month’s vote shows... Posted 19 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
Local citizens’ assemblies could break our political deadlock – but the government have vetoed them Last summer, ministers announced genuinely exciting plans for piloting ‘deliberative democracy’ across the UK. The plan was to use a series of citizens’ assemblies to engage people with politics, to tackle complex and contested topics,... Posted 22 Mar 2019
Citizens’ Juries could become the core of a revived local democracy Deliberative forms of democracy are certainly coming into fashion. From the Irish Citizens’ Assembly that led to the historic repeal of their constitutional ban of abortion, to that which informed the Health and Social Care... Posted 23 Aug 2018
Four ways Westminster’s politics needs fixing this Democracy Week Monday marks the start of the first ‘National Democracy Week’ – the government’s initiative to encourage democratic participation. It has been established on the premise that “regardless of who we are or where we are... Posted 29 Jun 2018