We can’t let the government force a broken system on important elections This week, Home Secretary Priti Patel laid out new plans as part of a review into the role of Police and Crime Commissioners. The move would see the current preference-based Supplementary Vote (SV) system replaced... Posted 19 Mar 2021
Making it easier for unpopular candidates to become Mayors turns back the clock These are deeply concerning plans to change our elections. Posted 18 Mar 2021
The Conservatives just pledged to take our democracy back decades Yesterday Theresa May launched the Conservatives’ manifesto. There was a lot of talk about ‘moving forwards’. But one pledge stuck out as doing the exact opposite. Theresa May has pledged to impose (or in the manifesto’s... Posted 19 May 2017
8 things last week’s elections tell us about Britain’s changing politics Last week’s ‘Super Thursday’ of elections was gold-dust for democracy lovers. It saw elections in Wales and London for their Assemblies, in Scotland for the Holyrood Parliament, in councils across England, in England and Wales for the... Posted 10 May 2016
Electoral Commission slams Police and Crime Commissioner elections It’s Official! Everyone (apart from the Home Office) who has looked at the elections for police and crime commissioners (PCCs) say they should never be allowed to happen that way again. At the Electoral Reform... Posted 19 Mar 2013
16 days and counting to an election no one’s heard of… Another day, another disaster. We now hear that £350,000 worth of ballot papers are headed for the shredder. The farce that is the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections is continuing to thrill audiences across the country.... Posted 30 Oct 2012
50 days and counting… It’s 50 days and counting to the election no one’s heard of… We have been joined by candidates from across the political divide to call on Theresa May to tackle the rock bottom turnout predicted... Posted 26 Sep 2012
A fair cop for women? Yesterday, the Labour Party became the first party to finalise its candidates for the 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to be elected this November. There have been widespread fears that this new role will be heavily... Posted 20 Jun 2012