Electoral Reform Society

Labour must not bind Britain's fate to the failing electoral system - Politics.co.uk It’s fair to say that British democracy is in ill health. Labour has inherited rock bottom public trust in politics and a state wracked by austerity. We are working to show that government can…

Faced with an electoral system that is turning British elections into a gamble with the country’s future, MPs are calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform to examine the electoral system and recommend a modern alternative.

The real lesson to take from Gorton and Denton is for the future of UK democracy | Institute for Government Westminster is dangerously underprepared for a multi-party future.

"If casting a vote starts to feel more like participating in a lottery than making a positive and principled decision, then voters are going to become ever more frustrated." First Past the Post can't handle multi-party politics. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gort...

Ahead of the next reading of the Representation of the People Bill, ERS has been briefing MPs with evidence on how to make our democracy more representative – from voting rights to participation and accountability. buff.ly/uNfmU3J

Representation of the People Bill This Representation of the People Bill is a major step forward for our democracy. It will give more young people a say, modernise our outdated registration system, and strengthen rules a

We've written briefings for all the main issues in the Representation of the People Bill, which is going through parliament at the moment. You can find them here:

Representation of the People Bill This Representation of the People Bill is a major step forward for our democracy. It will give more young people a say, modernise our outdated registration system, and strengthen rules a

The Representation of the People Bill contains clauses to extend the franchise, make voter registration simpler, tackle dodgy money and reassess the unnecessary voter ID scheme. We've written briefings for all the main issues that you can find here: buff.ly/r40HviM

Why Holyrood’s voting system still favours larger parties Everyone knows that First Past the Post favours the largest party. At the last Westminster election, Labour managed to turn 34% of the vote into 63% of parliament – a full 29 percentag

Everyone knows that First Past the Post favours the largest party. Thankfully we don’t use this system in the Scottish Parliament, but even here the largest party still gets an uplift.

Here’s how we’ve briefed MPs ahead of the next reading of the Representation of the People Bill On Monday 2nd March, MPs will gather for the second reading of the Representation of the People Bill – a welcomed and vital opportunity to discuss a fairer and more representati

From votes at 16 to fairer participation measures, the Representation of the People Bill is a chance to make British democracy fit for the 21st century. Here’s how we’ve been briefing MPs ahead of its next reading.

It’s a three-horse race! First Past the Post isn’t fit for purpose in Gorton and Denton The Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, scheduled for Thursday 26 February, has garnered much media attention. The outcome will be closely scrutinised by commentators for what i

And finally, @electoralreform.bsky.social made a really strong case for focussing more on the "broken" voting system than the results. First Past the Post is failing voters, Ian Simpson argues, because it's not designed for an era of multi-party politics

electoral-reform.org.uk/its-a-three-...

Here’s how we’ve briefed MPs ahead of the next reading of the Representation of the People Bill On Monday 2nd March, MPs will gather for the second reading of the Representation of the People Bill – a welcomed and vital opportunity to discuss a fairer and more representati

We’ve been sharing research and insight with MPs ahead of the Representation of the People Bill to ensure reforms genuinely strengthen voter representation.

How can someone be removed from the House of Lords? When peers make headlines for the wrong reasons, the same question inevitably arises: how do you actually remove someone from the House of Lords? The recent cases of Lord Mandelson and B

Proposals to 'modernise disciplinary procedures' in the House of Lords still leave decisions in the hands of other unelected peers, not the public.

It’s a three-horse race! First Past the Post isn’t fit for purpose in Gorton and Denton The Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, scheduled for Thursday 26 February, has garnered much media attention. The outcome will be closely scrutinised by commentators for what i

With three candidates standing a good chance of winning today in Gorton and Denton, small changes in the vote could decide the winner – but whatever happens, there is a good chance that two-thirds of voters will end up with an MP they didn't vote for. buff.ly/gUjPNaQ

It’s a three-horse race! First Past the Post isn’t fit for purpose in Gorton and Denton The Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, scheduled for Thursday 26 February, has garnered much media attention. The outcome will be closely scrutinised by commentators for what i

People deserve the chance to make positive choices. Yet we have a voting system that forces voters to make tactical judgements about which parties might or might not be placed to beat another party that they might really dislike.

Missing, in-action: What happened to the bill to remove the Hereditary Peers? It is not often we get to indulge in the mystery genre here at the ERS; however, this blog will delve into the curious incident of the missing Hereditary Peers bill. The bill, a straight

The bill, a straightforward piece of legislation to remove the remaining 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords, was last spotted in September 2025. Since then, nothing. The bill has stalled and seems stuck in suspended legislative animation. buff.ly/PPw6ERo

It’s a three-horse race! First Past the Post isn’t fit for purpose in Gorton and Denton The Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, scheduled for Thursday 26 February, has garnered much media attention. The outcome will be closely scrutinised by commentators for what i

The debate in Gorton and Denton has been dominated by tactical questions around which party is best placed to stop another party from winning. All because we have a voting system that fails when more than two candidates stand a chance. buff.ly/gUjPNaQ

Gorton and Denton byelection campaign hits final day with new poll saying it is too close to call who will win – UK politics live Opinium poll says it is ‘incredibly tight’ between Reform UK, Greens and Labour and all have a credible chance of winning

Westminster's creaking First Past the Post system is not designed for three parties in contention - whatever happens tomorrow, two thirds of people in Gorton and Denton will have an MP they didn't vote for. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Cambridge to pilot early voting at May 2026 elections Cambridge City Council

Great news for residents of Cambridge! For the 2026 city council elections, early voting will be available on Thursday 30 April, Friday 1 May and Saturday 2 May, along with the main election day on Thursday 7 May.

"And the next election under first past the post, if it stays anything like that, is just going to be chaotic... So we've got to bring in proportional representation."

Compass Director Neal Lawson on the need for PR on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on @skynewsrss.bsky.social.

Revealed: Corporate donations to British politics have tripled Influential Labour committee chairs call on government to clean up politics as our new analysis finds record £42 million in company donations ahead of last election

In the twelve months leading up to Keir Starmer’s 2024 election victory, companies gave £42 million to political parties and politicians, according to Electoral Commission data.

Local elections U-turn is welcome – but this saga has been a government fiasco | Institute for Government Elections in 30 local area will now proceed on 7 May 2026.

The Institute for Government has taken a similiar line to us on this: it is right that local elections go ahead in May, but it should never had got to this point. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/loca...

MPs form new cross-party group aimed at wholesale Lords reform This week, MPs and peers from across the political spectrum announced plans to form a new all-party parliamentary group on ‘wholesale’ Lords reform. The trigger was the very real sig

Peers who bring parliament into disrepute can simply step back, while continuing to benefit from the status that comes with a title.

The Representation of the People Bill MUST scrap First Past the Post First Past the Post can no longer deliver real mandates - only chaos. 60% of Brits want it scrapped. Yet the new Representation of the People Bill won’t even touch our rotten voting system, which…

They're calling it the Representation of the People Bill, while keeping a voting system that fails to represent the people. Add your name to demand they make it do what it says on the tin

Gorton & Denton update 2: Leaflet wars I'm sorry but I just don't know, I know you said I told you so

First Past the Post means political parties spend their effort arguing over which parties are in a 'two horse race' - rather than what they have to offer.

Westminster’s dirty secret – what lobbying in Britain looks like and how we clean it up Lobbying is a word that can be used to describe all manner of sins in Westminster. It has hit the headlines again courtesy of Peter Mandelson and his relationship to convicted paedophile

The House of Lords is a lobbyist's paradise. With access to the corridors of power and ability to vote themselves on legislation, at least 50 members of the House of Lords worked for lobbying firms in 2025.

Is No 10 seeking its own destruction? Why else would it botch its council plans and hand a victory to Farage? | Polly Toynbee Labour promised ‘ambitious reforms’, but it was fixing things that were not broken. And the moral: focus on what matters and stop making stupid mistakes, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

We need a more local, local democracy - we already have many fewer local elected representatives than most similar countries and England's local councillors have been vanishing fast “from 75,000 in 1965, to only 11,000 that will be left after this" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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 ninth Rug

Japan's Sanae Takaichi won a supermajority last week after gambling on a snap election, but how do Japan's elections work? Back in 2019, ERS Cymru's Mat Mathias took some time out from his rugby world cup trip to find out.
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Over 50 Academics Warn That Voting System Is Not Fit For Multi-Party Politics Dozens of academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an 'unprecedented' s...

Over 50 academics have written to the government warning them about the likely impact of First Past the Post at the next election. General elections shouldn't be a random government generator.

UK politics: Government abandons plans to delay 30 local council elections in May – as it happened The government was warned by its lawyers that such a move could be illegal as it pledges an additional £63m to help councils with reorganisation

50% extra free shouldn't apply to terms in office. That's what our Chief Executive told the Guardian as "the cancellations proposed would have meant councillors in some authorities serving a term and a half without facing voters – that would have been unacceptable." buff.ly/pFhJbKX

Keir Starmer U-turns on cancelling council elections after legal threat In a surprise announcement the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government scrapped plans to delay votes in 30 areas - impacting millions of people in May

Our Chief Executive told the Mirror that "Elections are a vital part of the democratic process, and it is crucial that voters have their say on politicians who make decisions that affect them." while welcoming the move

Councils face 'uphill struggle' after elections delay U-turn Thirty councils across England now have to organise local polls after the government abandoned plans to delay.

Now that elections are back on, there needs to be clarity around the exceptional circumstances where elections may be postponed in future. Democracy isn't an option extra for local government. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Representation of the People Bill MUST scrap First Past the Post First Past the Post can no longer deliver real mandates - only chaos. 60% of Brits want it scrapped. Yet the new Representation of the People Bill won’t even touch our rotten voting system, which…

Have you added your name yet? If the government really wants their Representation of the People Bill to live up to its name, it needs to scrap Westminster’s outdated and distorting voting system.