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
24 years ago the Greater London Authority Act gained royal assent This weekend (11th November) marks the 24th anniversary of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 gaining royal assent. The Greater London Authority, comprising the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, was first elected in... Posted 10 Nov 2023
First Past the Post locks many talented people out of politics This week, Politics Home reported that Regional Tories Are Snubbing Parachuted MP Candidates In Favour Of “Local Champions”. It seems that number of Conservative candidates with a background in local government is increasing at each... Posted 11 Aug 2023
Where are the policies for renters? First Past the Post keeps the focus on homeowners With the current cost-of-living crisis and soaring interest rates, mortgages and mortgage holders are all anybody can talk about, including our political parties. Posted 28 Jul 2023
Should the ERS look at the rules for… Tennis? As tennis players line up for the Wimbledon semi-finals, and candidates hit the doorstep for multiple by-elections, we’ve been thinking about how useful sporting analogies are when it comes to politics. As, when you think... Posted 14 Jul 2023
What elections should the next government reform? Last week we published a blog on UK electoral reforms since 1997 and highlighted that whilst at Westminster the fight for electoral reform continues, the progress of reform across the UK increased and voters are... Posted 08 Mar 2023
What Electoral reforms have there been since 1997? While the need for reforming Westminster’s First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system is getting clearer every day, outside Westminster the process of reform has been slowly, but surely, going in the right direction. While... Posted 02 Mar 2023
What electoral system does India use to elect the Lok Sabha? India, the largest democracy in the world, has a system of democratic federalism which has both large amounts of parties and Westminster-style First Past the Post (FPTP) voting. The Indian Federal government is made up... Posted 29 Sep 2022
Long running survey finds majority support proportional representation The publication of the latest findings from the long-running British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey this week saw a record-breaking high in public support for electoral reform. Since 1983, the following question has been included on... Posted 23 Sep 2022
How did New Zealand get proportional representation? Prior to 1996, MPs were elected to New Zealand’s House of Representatives using the same unrepresentative First Past The Post (FPTP) system that is used to elect MPs to the UK’s House of Commons. Since... Posted 02 Aug 2022