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Dear Friend,

As the year comes to an end, and our Conference and AGM approaches, I'm proud to launch Annual Report 2021: Our Year Campaigning for Change. We’re ending 2021 with Westminster engulfed in scandal. MPs’ second jobs, lobbying, the fallout from the handling of Covid contracts and cash for peerages stories are all in the news.

Each one of them a symptom of a broken system where artificial single party majorities and command and control politics reign supreme – leaving the views of voters as a mere afterthought. The 2021 Annual Report covers our activities over the past year, if you would like to find out more, make sure you are registered for our upcoming online conference on the 4th December.

All the best,
Darren Hughes
Chief Executive, Electoral Reform Society

Almost all MPs with a majority of their income from 2nd jobs have majorities bigger than 17000

We must end the link between safe seats and second jobs

The most revealing type of political scandal is not the one where rules have been broken, but the ones where they haven’t.

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COP26 shows we need to democratise to decarbonise

In the run up to the COP26 climate change conference, a coalition of leading democracy organisations joined together on a campaign to put strong democracy at the heart of any response.

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The smaller the constituency the less proportional the results

What is the ideal number of MPs per constituency in proportional representation?

When choosing a proportional voting system, one of the most important decisions is the number of MPs each constituency elects – its ‘district magnitude'.

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A giant step forward for electoral reform in Wales

Labour and Plaid Cymru deal is a big step forward for Wales’ democracy

This week saw a historic moment in Wales. Standing on the steps of the Senedd on Monday afternoon, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price announced The Co-operation Agreement.

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As long as we have First Past the Post there is little voters can do about it

Hefty majorities become hefty bank balances with MPs’ outside jobs

As the second jobs scandal engulfs Westminster, the same line keeps being rolled out by government figures: If voters didn’t like their MPs pocketing sizeable sums from second jobs, they wouldn’t keep re-electing them.

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Within Europe semi-open lists are the norm

What’s the difference between open and closed list proportional representation?

When discussing voting systems, we usually talk about how they allocate seats to political parties. But parliaments are more than parties and it also matters how they decide which individuals are elected and get to become MPs.

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In the news...

BBC Wales - Voter ID: Concerns scheme could hit people in Wales harder
The National - Poll finds third of Scots want House of Lords abolished – more than any part of UK
The Express - ‘Matter of when, not if!’ House of Lords needs faith repair or chamber will be 'abolished'
The Guardian - The Lords is a scandal in plain sight. If we won’t abolish it now, then when?
The Times - Unionist group Scotland Matters ordered to explain £46,000 donations
The Herald - More citizens assemblies promised by Scottish Government
The Times - Electoral reform would help to fix our broken politics

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