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Electoral Reform Society
OrganisationGB

Electoral Reform Society

UK NGO campaigning for proportional representation and electoral reform since 1884.

The 61 councils left under No Overall Control after 7 May 2026, a record the Electoral Reform Society cites as its most compelling live evidence yet that first-past-the-post cannot cope with five-party fragmentation.

Last refreshed: 3 August 2026

Key Question

What role did the Electoral Reform Society play in Wales's switch to PR?

Timeline for Electoral Reform Society

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Background

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is a UK political advocacy organisation founded in 1884, one of the oldest electoral-reform bodies in the world. Centre-Left in orientation, it campaigns for proportional representation and independent election administration, and is consulted by think tanks, political parties and parliamentary committees on electoral system design.

Its durable role in UK politics is as the standing voice for reform whenever an election result exposes first-past-the-post's limits, drawing on any fresh evidence of vote-seat mismatches to press its case with policymakers rather than campaigning around a single event.

Key Issues
Electoral reform

Fragmentation bolsters ERS's reform case

The Electoral Reform Society treats the 61 English councils Left under No Overall Control after the 7 May 2026 elections as its strongest live evidence in a generation that first-past-the-post cannot translate a fragmented five-party field into a workable seat distribution.

The restored Supplementary Vote gave the society a second, positive case study on 30 July, when Bev Craig's Greater Manchester mayoral win went to a second round for the first time and her support rose from 47.1% to 66.3% on transfers. For the society, each subsequent sign of fragmentation deepening, alongside a working example of a transfer-based system settling a close race, adds to the case it makes to parliamentary committees and parties for moving England away from single-member plurality voting.

Common Questions

Reference

What does the Electoral Reform Society do?
A UK NGO founded 1884 that campaigns for proportional representation and independent election administration.

Recently resolved

Did the Welsh closed-list PR system squeeze small parties as the ERS predicted?
Yes. The Wales Green Party collapsed from a projected 10 seats to 2 in the final fortnight as voters consolidated behind Plaid Cymru, a D'Hondt squeeze effect the ERS had flagged as a structural feature of closed-list proportional systems.Source: Lowdown
Why did a former Conservative prime minister back electoral reform in 2026?
Sir John Major delivered the March 2026 Attlee Foundation Lecture arguing that recent general elections had thrown the validity of FPTP into doubt and endorsing Flexible voting pilots. The ERS praised the intervention as unusual cross-party validation.Source: Lowdown
What does the Electoral Reform Society want to change about UK elections?
The ERS campaigns to replace first-past-the-post with proportional representation for Westminster elections. It argues FPTP produces unrepresentative results as five-party fragmentation grows; the 61 English councils under No Overall Control after 7 May 2026 are its latest evidence.
What is the Electoral Reform Society's position on the 2026 Welsh Senedd election?
The ERS supports Wales's switch from AMS to closed-list D'Hondt PR and views the 2026 Senedd election as a significant democratic reform and live evidence for proportional representation arguments.
Source Material
Electoral Reform Society - WikipediaElectoral Reform Society