Elections to the Hamburg Parliament took place on 2 March 2025. I served as the Technical Expert to the Council of Europe Congress mission that monitored the election. You can read the statement from the Head and Deputy Head of Mission here: https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/-/hamburg-parliament-elections-high-commitment-to-local-democracy-but-transparency-of-political-funding-could-be-improved https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/-/hamburg-parliament-elections-high-commitment-to-local-democracy-but-transparency-of-political-funding-could-be-improved

Immediately after the 2024 US Presidential election, UEA held the annual Lasdun Lecture on the topic of democracy in America. This took the form of an open panel discussion - it was great to be on the panel. Watch below - and/or read my recent piece on real democracy in the USA. https://youtu.be/mNxoXq0LGqQ?si=lkhHTa9oZkbOaN01

Democratic Electoral Reform? REDESIGNING ELECTIONS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE Online workshop, 19-21st March 2025 Organised by the Electoral Integrity Project and Westminster Foundation for Democracy Convenor: Toby S. James (t.s.james@uea.ac.uk) Election quality varies enormously around the world.  Given concerns about global democratic backsliding, the issue of how to improve and protect election quality is a pressing…Read more Call for Papers: Democratic Electoral Reform?

Problems in the quality of elections are found are the world. It follows that we need strong systems of electoral justice to provide remedy for those who have experienced the injustices. However, there are also concerns about disinformation and polarized elections which might cause candidates, parties and other actors to make false claimsabout election quality.…Read more What is Electoral Justice? A Framework…

Toby James, University of East Anglia, first published on the Conversation Labour won the 2024 election by a landslide. But a significant story from the night’s results was the low turnout across the nation – the lowest since 2001. At 59.9%, voter turnout was significantly lower than the 67.3% turnout in 2019. Prime minister Keir…Read more UK Voter turnout lowest in decades – an expected result and electoral rules may have played a role

The phrase '"all politics is local" is commonly used in politics. It is said to originate from US politics to refer to the idea that politicians "need local skills to win the primary election that gets them into their safe seat". Another usage (which I prefer and maybe made up...) is that politics affects the…Read more The UK 2024 General Election: Results in East Anglia

Elections are often said to be historic. So where should we place the 2024 general election in the long sweep of history? Here's some figures which will be updated on the night. The size of the Prime Minister's majority. Where will 2024 be? Here's the history and 2024 based on the BBC Exit Poll: The…Read more UK General Election Result in Historical and Comparative Context

The UK heads to the polls for the 2024 elections soon. The rules have changed since the last general election with Voter ID introduced, more eligible overseas electors and the independence of Electoral Commission reduced. What could a future (2029?) general election look like? A picture of utopian democracy? Or a dystopia of flawed electoral…Read more Elections of the future: what are UK parties offering?

Toby James, University of East Anglia This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The general election is to take place on July 4 – but up to 8 million people may not be correctly registered to vote. The deadline for registering to vote is 11.59pm on…Read more Election 2024: up to 8 million people are not properly registered to vote