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
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
Proportional representation would end the scourge of tactical voting The losses in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton, where the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Conservative majority, were both the result of declining support for Johnson’s government, but also it would appear, the result of widescale tactical voting.... Posted 03 Jul 2022
How do elections work in Slovenia? The process of democratisation since the collapse of communism has not been uniform across eastern Europe, but some countries, such as the Baltic states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, are now drawing level with established... Posted 21 Apr 2022
Does proportional representation lead to higher turnout? A healthy democracy requires healthy levels of democratic participation – the most crucial element of which is turnout at general elections. But Britain has one of the lowest turnout rates in the west – a... Posted 10 Feb 2022