Electoral Reform Society

Sign now to demand an end to big money in politics It takes 30 seconds

The government are working on a new law about our elections, and we want to see donation caps in it. Do you? buff.ly/1yqUrOP

There is no check on their contributions, or lack of; no democratic accountability to boot them out for poor performance. buff.ly/jztKsqg

Sign now to demand an end to big money in politics It takes 30 seconds

People donate money to our politicians because they think it’s a good investment. Either for their business interests or to further their idea of what the country should be like.

Those are not things you should be able to buy in a democracy.

Lords rules and culture make it easy for peers to abuse privileged position Unreformed system means peers can profit by taking outside roles based on insider knowledge and access

The House of Lords is a rolling lobbying scandal

2025 at the ERS: Our work behind the scenes Each year we write an Annual Review which looks back at our achievements across the last 12 months, and explains how our team have campaigned towards securing our vision for a democracy

Building connections with politicians is incredibly important in mobilising change.

See what we've been working on this year in this year's Annual Review: electoral-reform.org.uk/2025-at-the-...

When one person can bankroll an entire political movement, democracy is at risk.
We break down why the Elections Bill must include a cap on donations. buff.ly/Zps1eVo

The Lords they are a-leaping to frustrate ministers | The Observer columnists

"Peers are waging a brazen campaign in the upper house to stall key reforms"

We are moving inexorably to the end point of electoral chaos - five parties all tied on 19% in the polls, election to be decided by blindfolded chimps chucking coloured darts at a constituency map

How Lord Dannatt used his peerage to open doors for business interests Former head of British army is suspended from the House of Lords after being filmed breaking rules

Come for the richly-reported details of Dannatt's business dealings, stay for the literary subheadings.

w/ @robevansgdn.bsky.social

Politicians urge Labour to restore Electoral Commission independence All-party group say move is needed to stop UK lagging behind global standards on election integrity

An independent Electoral Commission is a basic requirement for a modern democracy. The Government need to free the Electoral Commission

Minister: Put a donations cap in the Elections Bill A million pounds here, a few hundred thousand there. Life-changing sums for most of us. Yet in the world of political finance, these are the figures some individuals can casually drop in

Big money shouldn’t decide the future of our democracy. It’s time for a cap on political donations.
Read our latest piece on why this matters now more than ever.

Forced to make a tactical vote? We shouldn’t have to vote for the least bad option Every election, millions of us head to the polling station in a conflicted state of mind – should I vote for the party I most believe in, or should tactical considerations come into pl

Every election, millions of us head to the polling station in a conflicted state of mind – should I vote for the party I most believe in, or should tactical considerations come into play?
electoral-reform.org.uk/forced-to-ma...

Morning Digest: Court blocks new Texas map, dealing surprise blow to Republicans An appeal is already underway, but the GOP's redistricting push could backfire massively

In an update on this story, the Texas gerrymander has been blocked by a court www.the-downballot.com/p/morning-di...

2025 at the ERS: Our year campaigning for change Each year we write an Annual Review which looks back at our achievements across the last 12 months, and explains how our team have campaigned towards securing our vision for a democracy

Find out more about our activities this year in our 2025 Annual Review.
By using our voice in the media, developing in-depth research and policy, campaigning and influencing and making the case online, we’ve led the charge for democratic reform.
electoral-reform.org.uk/2025-at-the-...

What's Democracy Worth? | IPSA IPSA regulates and administers MPs business expenses and staffing costs. We also decide the pay and pensions the UK's elected MPs and their staff.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority commissioned a Citizens' Panel on MPs pay - they have now published their findings buff.ly/eSNVvqr

History fans out there will remember the 1983 General Election, when the SDP-Liberal Alliance won 25% of the vote and just 23 seats. With Westminster's bizarre First Past the Post system, two parties can get the same number of votes and get wildly different numbers of seats.

YouGov recorded their highest ever vote share for the Greens (17%) today. But as we said last month, it's very hard to say what this means in terms of seats. electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-yougo...

Labour must accept that the two-party age is over and embrace PR | Letters Letters: Backing proportional representation would be in Labour’s interests, writes John Culley, while Austen Lynch says the greater risk is continuing with the current system

The risky choice is sticking with First Past the Post at Westminster

The Netherlands is going to the polls, but how do Dutch elections work? Dutch voters have started going to the polls to vote in the general election to elect the 150 members of the House of Representatives, with incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte seeking a

You actually can vote for candidates in the Netherlands electoral-reform.org.uk/the-netherla...

Why did the Netherlands adopt nationwide proportional representation? The Dutch prioritised proportionality above all else when creating their system of proportional representation; choosing a single nationwide constituency and a very low threshold. This i

Many countries adopted proportional representation because First Past the Post couldn't handle the way their populations were voting - multi-party politics caused the voting system to change, not the other way round.

Both the Committee on Senedd Electoral Reform and the Expert Panel on Assembly Electoral Reform recommended the Single Transferable Vote (STV) buff.ly/syS6mLI

We should be able to look at a poll and have a reasonable sense of how the country’s votes would translate into seats. buff.ly/5LdUrFm

We’ve seen it time and again. When one party holds most of the seats on less than half the votes, the supposed “majority” is fragile from the start. buff.ly/qZOD3rT

Minister says police and crime commissioners will be abolished in 2028 because system has failed – UK politics live Elected policing roles will be abolished and their powers transferred to mayors in England in move that could save £100 million

BREAKING: "Minister says police and crime commissioners will be abolished in 2028 because the system has failed" buff.ly/sP6sNFL

Labour cools on its House of Lords revolution Labour’s bold manifesto promised to shrink Britain’s ballooning second chamber — but the government’s facing accusations of kicking the problem into the long grass.

The House of Lords is never going to reform itself. For too long we have had a bastion of privilege at the heart of Westminster, who set the laws for the rest of us, but never get held accountable for their decisions.

Kleptoscope: Big Money in Little Britain How to protect our democracy?

Roll up! Excited to be hosting a new kleptoscope at London's Frontline Club, with Sue Hawley, of @spotlightcorruption.org, Jess Garland of @electoralreform.bsky.social and @liambyrnemp.bsky.social. We'll be talking about how to save democracy from big money.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kleptoscop...

Just as in California, where the lines go can directly affect who represents you and how many MPs each party has. buff.ly/QWwrAmF

Welcome to 21st-century politics: a bitter revolt against power that will consume Labour and the Tories | John Harris A mood of turbulence and insurgency against the two main parties has been building for years, says Guardian columnist John Harris

The days of two big parties are over

Prop 50 was in the news, and the article explains the context of Gerrymandering in Texas, to make a point about First Past the Post in the UK. Documenting every state doing similar would be pointless

Closed Lists were a misstep, cross-party STV bill would put the Senedd back on track Wales stands at an important crossroads in its democratic journey. ERS Cymru has developed a proposal to change the way we elect members of the Senedd, replacing the planned closed-list

The Senedd election next year will be held under a system no one wanted – the closed list system. ERS Cymru has developed a proposal to change the way we elect members of the Senedd, replacing the planned closed-list system with the Single Transferable Vote (STV).