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Thousands have signed our petition for proportional representation since the warped election

Over 50,000 people have signed the Electoral Reform Society’s petition calling for proportional representation for Westminster elections, after last week’s warped results. Thursday’s election set alarm bells ringing when the government won a large majority...

Posted 16 Dec 2019

14,513,247 voters didn’t vote for their MP

When millions of voters are systematically ignored, it’s time for an overhaul at Westminster

One thing was clear before a single result came in on Thursday night. The voting system is not just bust – it’s bankrupt. A huge amount of time was given this election to talk about...

Posted 16 Dec 2019

A 1% increase in the Conservatives’ vote share led to a landslide

Westminster’s voting system is bankrupt. It’s time for proportional representation

Millions of voters unrepresented. An unjust majority on a minority of the vote. And nearly one in three forced to vote ‘tactically’. Westminster’s voting system is not just bust. It’s bankrupt, decrepit, discredited. We’ve been...

Posted 13 Dec 2019

Introducing the ERS General Election Results Hub

Every general election, sites like the BBC, Guardian and Telegraph present live updates of the general election results as they roll in. Yet, despite having the data in front of you, it’s often hard to see the warping effect of our broken...

Posted 09 Dec 2019

14 Million Voters Are In Seats That Haven’t Changed Hands Since WW2. Here’s Why

Nearly 14 million voters are in seats that have not changed party hands since the Second World War, according to new research by the Electoral Reform Society. Taking into account equivalent predecessor seats, some seats have...

Posted 09 Dec 2019

Huge parts of this country are effectively competition-free zones

What is proportional representation?

Parties from across the political spectrum are lining up against our voting system and calling for proportional representation, but what does that term mean? There are lots of different ways to decide who gets to...

Posted 06 Dec 2019

With PR, the number of MPs in parliament are ‘in proportion’ to the votes cast

We should be scrutinising candidates and policies. Instead the talk is of tactics and pacts

Judging by the first week of the general election campaign, it seems likely that the remaining month will see a lot of focus on ‘tactical’ issues. We’ve already seen electoral pacts, or parties standing down...

Posted 13 Nov 2019

Tactical voting and electoral pacts are two sides of the same coin

What is tactical voting and why is it bad for democracy?

In a Westminster election, tactical voting takes place when a voter chooses a candidate whom they wouldn’t normally support, in order to prevent another candidate from winning. For example, if you want to vote for...

Posted 12 Nov 2019

Voters shouldn’t have to change their behaviour to work around first past the post’s failings

How do elections work in Japan?

For the next six weeks the eyes of the world will be fixed on Japan. Ok, probably not all the eyes just the ones that enjoy watching rugby. This week marks the beginning of the...

Posted 19 Sep 2019