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Changing boundaries shouldn’t change election results

For the past 30 years, political scientists Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher have been investigating how new boundaries will impact the political makeup of Parliament. Whenever new constituency maps are designed, they estimate what the...

Posted 16 Jan 2024

Shouldn’t MPs win or lose their seats based on voters changing their minds

Boundary review? It’s time for an electoral system review

Boundary Review day comes around faster every year it seems. The so-called Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is now on its third go at suggesting new boundaries. The electoral map has to be updated...

Posted 09 Jun 2021

Westminster’s unfair system is working just as expected

This simple change could help bring in the ‘missing millions’

Rather than putting up bureaucratic barriers to engaging with politics, we should be ensuring everyone can use their vote.

Posted 15 Oct 2020

Just 25 percent of attainers are registered

Why ministers’ plans for redrawing the constituency map matter

The Parliamentary Constituencies Bill 2019-21 is currently making its way through Parliament, and it deserves some proper attention.

Posted 30 Jun 2020

ERS in the Press – March 2020

These are difficult and uncertain times, with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down most normal activity in politics and across the country this month. Despite the disruption, we’ve been campaigning the most democratic and safe Parliamentary...

Posted 06 Apr 2020

It’s not just the boundaries that need reviewing – it’s First Past the Post

The four national Boundary Commissions have now announced their results. If parliament accepts them, these will be the constituencies that the next general election in 2022 will be fought on. The election specialists Rallings &...

Posted 11 Sep 2018

The plan to cut MPs looks suspiciously like a power grab

Are we witnessing a power grab? Six months ago, reports suggested that the Prime Minister had dropped plans to force through a cut in MPs, a cut linked with the ongoing review of constituency boundaries....

Posted 20 Feb 2018

Seven reasons to cancel the cut in the number of MPs

Six months ago it appeared that controversial changes to electoral boundaries were to be dropped by the government. There has never been a great appetite for the number of MPs to be cut from 650...

Posted 19 Feb 2018

The abandoned boundary review could be a big opportunity

It was reported today in The Times that the planned review of constituency boundaries and cut in MPs may be scrapped due to opposition in Parliament. If the report is to be believed, the Boundary...

Posted 06 Sep 2017

Amid a shrinking Commons, let’s stand up for the backbencher

This article was first published on Politics.co.uk A steady rise in independent-minded MPs has been a positive feature of Westminster life in recent years. Parliament has always had its share of mavericks and their ranks...

Posted 18 Nov 2016