Elections 2021: Rotten boroughs are rife in England, as voters are hit by warped results We’re already seeing a plethora of rotten results – with parties taking nearly all the seats on a fraction of the vote. Posted 07 May 2021
Looking back at a decade of proportional representation for local elections in Scotland "When we now come to use Westminster’s one-person-takes-all system in Scotland, it seems perverse and unwieldly." Posted 04 May 2020
Deepening democracy with Scotland’s Local Democracy Bill Democracy isn’t static, it is a process. It isn’t always simple or easy, and today it is being tested under the strain of a crisis of trust, one which affects political institutions, the public square... Posted 30 Mar 2020
Local elections: How voters in England were cheated by a broken voting system Local democracy in England and Wales has long been under strain – with contests often seeing dismally low turnout, or indeed no contest taking place at all. But new research from the ERS adds fresh... Posted 30 Jul 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
Local Elections 2018: Six things your local council decides on How much do you know about your local council – what it does, how it’s spending the council tax you pay each month, and how you can affect the decisions it makes? As if often the case with politics, the answer isn’t straightforward. In... Posted 26 Apr 2018
Why we need real leadership on democratic reform from the next Welsh Labour leader What was always set to be an interesting Welsh Labour conference this weekend quickly became one for the history books as Carwyn Jones used his conference speech to announce his intention to stand down as... Posted 24 Apr 2018
Local newspapers play a key role in our democracy and their decline is concerning “When trusted and credible news sources decline, we can become vulnerable to news which is untrustworthy.” So said the Prime Minister last week – representing fears even at the very top over the decline of... Posted 14 Feb 2018
A month before polling day, nearly 100 candidates in Wales have already won Voting is an essential part of democratic life – from Mayoral contests to Westminster elections. Yet in an alarming number of places next month, voters in Wales will be denied a vote. That’s not because... Posted 11 Apr 2017
An exciting time to join ERS Cymru As she joins us as the new Director of ERS Cymru, Jess Blair sets out the challenges and opportunities for deepening Welsh democracy. In the last twelve months the political landscape across the world has... Posted 14 Mar 2017