How does proportional representation work? Proportional representation (PR) is not a voting system in itself. Instead, it’s the idea that seats in parliament should reflect the proportion of votes cast; something which can be achieved through a variety of electoral... Posted 05 Sep 2024
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2023 Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first... Posted 14 Dec 2023
Hundreds of activists gather to tell MPs to Sort the System Support for proportional representation is growing. In the past few months, we’ve seen more and more people saying it’s time for change – the result of widespread concern that Westminster politics isn’t working for ordinary... Posted 26 May 2023
How do Finland’s elections work? On Sunday 2nd April, voters in Finland will go to the polls to elect a new parliament. Finland’s parliament, known locally as the Eduskunta, contains exactly 200 MPs. 199 of these are elected by Party... Posted 20 Mar 2023
Why did Belgium adopt proportional representation? In 1899, Belgium became the first country in the world to adopt a proportional system for national elections. At that point, it had primarily been the preserve of theoretical debate, with only a handful of... Posted 01 Feb 2023
How did Switzerland get proportional representation? In the early 1890s, a handful of Swiss cantons (states) held the first public elections in Europe to truly use proportional representation (PR). The success of these early votes meant that over the next few... Posted 06 Jan 2023
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2022 Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first... Posted 15 Dec 2022
Ed Davey – Let’s make the next general election the last fought under First Past the Post This week we supported a panel with Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey, as part of a rescheduled conference event. The ERS attends all the major party conferences, but this year’s Liberal Democrat conference was cancelled... Posted 01 Dec 2022
The ERS team at a historic Labour Conference The campaign for fair votes recently achieved a historic victory when Labour Party Conference voted for a manifesto commitment to proportional representation for general elections. This is a massive moment for democracy in the UK.... Posted 05 Oct 2022
Labour Party conference backs proportional representation In a historic vote, Labour Party Conference has voted for a manifesto commitment to proportional representation for general elections. This is a massive moment for democracy in the UK. Now all major parties, bar the... Posted 27 Sep 2022