For the political junkies amongst you in the trade union movement who enjoy dissecting election results, you’ll have noticed how many of media outlets are now running stories telling us what Parliament would look like under proportional representation. Channel 4 has produced a great video report that explains how it would look and why. As it’s Heart Unions week, this …
Continue readingThe All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Elections launched with the backing of 100 cross-party MPs, including many on the Labour benches. You can see the full list of supporters here. In marketing terms these are the innovators and the disruptors, challenging the status quo, building and refining the arguments to make the case for a better democracy. The …
Continue readingOver 200 people joined us online to hear Guardian columnist Zoe Williams in conversation Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester to talk about where next for our democracy. Here are my five takeaways: Andy referred to analysis by Sir John Curtice that said trust in politicians is at its lowest and as a result people are now looking at proportional …
Continue readingThe future of work is going to look very different from the world of work at the end of the last century. When trade union membership was at its peak in 1980, jobs were more likely to be full-time, secure and accompanied by a pension and other benefits. Unions helped workers to maintain and improve their terms and conditions. A …
Continue readingMost of those registered to vote do not want a Conservative Government, yet they keep getting elected! How does this happen? Democracy campaigner and author of The Tory Winning Machine, Adam Herriott, explores more reasons why this may be the case. Part two of a two-part blog Part one The Tory Party may be tearing itself apart at the moment, but …
Continue readingMost of those registered to vote do not want a Conservative Government, yet they keep getting elected! How does this happen? Democracy campaigner and author of The Tory Winning Machine, Adam Herriott, explores the reasons. Part one of a two-part blog The Conservative Party has always been the party of the rich and powerful. They operate to form governments that defend …
Continue readingIn the 1997 general election Tony Blair decided Labour wouldn’t stand a candidate against the Independent anti-corruption candidate Martin Bell in the Tatton constituency in Cheshire. Neither did the Lib Dems in what was the 4th safest Tory seat in the UK at the time. The tactic to rid the constituency of the incumbent Tory Neil Hamilton, who was entangled …
Continue readingThe trade union movement has always led demands for greater democracy, empowering working people and communities, and offering a different vision of society. Today, that demand for greater democracy is vital and urgent. The powerful levers of the state are being used to undo rights and freedoms, give jobs and contracts to cronies, and attack minorities. We need to rewire the …
Continue readingThis week, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) joined the growing list of trade unions that back proportional representation. USDAW voted in favour of a motion committing it to support a change in the electoral system at its 76th Annual Delegate Meeting (ADM) on the 25th April. The motion was moved by Phil Crooks from the Home …
Continue readingI want you to take a trip in the Tardis with me. Hop in whilst I press the button for 2006 and let’s get going. We open the doors to find it’s September, we’re in Manchester and it’s raining. We join hundreds of people with hoods up or huddled under umbrellas, heading over to the G-Mex Convention Centre for the …
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