News and Opinion

We welcome guest articles from members on proportional representation, elections, voting reform and voting systems.

If you have an article of between 200 and 500 words, please paste your article, along with a short author bio of no more than 50 words into the contact form.

From Brighton to Liverpool – Labour’s march towards electoral reform

By Joe Sousek & Sandy Martin | August 2, 2022

After revealing unprecedented demand for Proportional Representation from the Labour Party membership at last year’s annual conference, the Labour for a New Democracy (L4ND) coalition…

THE ELECTIONS ACT 2022, and why we should be worried about it

By Admin | June 25, 2022

28 April 2022 saw the Royal Assent given to the Elections Act. The debate, the protests, the submissions pointing out the defects and dangers in…

North Shropshire – what does it tell us?

By Sandy Martin | December 21, 2021

The North Shropshire by-election of 16 December 2021 saw a historically rock-solid Conservative majority overturned by a surge in votes for the Liberal Democrats. What…

Conference 2021: What a result!

By Sandy Martin, Chair of LCER | December 20, 2021

On 27th September, delegates representing 80% of Constituency Labour Parties voted to commit our Party to a proportional system of election to the House of…

Fulfilling the legacy of Robin and Mo at Party Conference

By Mary Southcott | September 18, 2021

Labour campaigners for voting reform under 40 only know its greatest campaigners, Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook, from history books or talking with their parents.…

Will this finally be PR’s Conference?

By Sandy Martin | September 18, 2021

On Saturday 25th September the 2021 Labour Party Conference gets under way. 144 CLPs have submitted the Labour for a New Democracy (L4ND) motion –…

Winning Locally is a Step Toward PR

By Julie Ward | May 3, 2021

I am standing for election as a local councillor this year because I know that Labour needs to stand candidates and campaign to win in…

Watching what happens in Scotland

By Mary Southcott | May 3, 2021

We have heard much about SNP squabbles and Salmond’s new Alba party. Party leaders debates have been held, the last one on Tuesday, see LCER’s…

Getting into the detail of the Count: D’Hondt and Modified D’Hondt

By Monica Threlfall, PhD | April 21, 2021

 In the UK, one ‘family’ of electoral systems appears to offer solutions to those searching for a more acceptable electoral system for the House of…

Unions will Thrive Under Proportional Representation

By Charlotte Cornell | April 16, 2021

In a spring article for Labour List, John Spellar MP said that “voters in England don’t seem to share the enthusiasm for constitutional affairs of…

Opportunity to discuss voting reform

By Mary Southcott | November 7, 2020

We have in the rest of 2020 opportunities to work with other reform groupings.    Besides the South West trade union meeting on 19 November, on…

Thirty Years On – The Plant Report

By Mary Southcott | September 20, 2020

Once upon a time, thirty years ago to be precise, also at Annual Conference, the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform won a victory which should…