Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) was founded in 1884, making it one of the world's oldest advocacy organisations dedicated to democratic reform. It is a membership organisation and registered charity headquartered in London, with a staff of around 30 and a substantial public profile in UK political debate.
Its core campaign is for proportional representation to replace first-past-the-post in Westminster elections. Beyond voting systems, ERS has increasingly championed citizens' assemblies and deliberative mini-publics as a complement to — or corrective for — representative institutions. The society runs and commissions public participation processes, publishes research, and acts as an expert voice on constitutional design.
ERS also owns Electoral Reform Services, a trading subsidiary that runs elections for trade unions, professional bodies, and organisations worldwide — providing a revenue stream that partly funds its advocacy work.
Key people
- John Stuart Mill — early supporter and theorist whose work on proportional representation shaped the society's founding arguments.
Links
- Website: electoral-reform.org.uk
- Wikipedia: Electoral Reform Society
See also
History
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1884-01-01
Founded as the Proportional Representation Society — one of the world's oldest electoral reform organisationsFounding of the organisation
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was founded in January 1884 as the Proportional Representation Society by
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1959-01-01
Defended STV in Ireland — future director Enid Lakeman led successful campaigns against referendums to abolish proportional representationReferendum campaign/result
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When Fianna Fáil put to a referendum a proposal to revert to first-past-the-post voting twice (1959 and 1968), the society, under the leadership of Enid Lakeman, led a successful campaign to keep the STV system in Ireland.
↗ View source - 2011-05-05 Led the Yes campaign in the UK's Alternative Vote referendum — the first UK-wide electoral system referendumReferendum campaign/result