Author | Lightnews

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · 9d

The by-election could have an outsized impact, as Labour currently hold 30 seats in the 60-seat chamber.

Eight candidates are contesting the election - view the full candidate list here: whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/se...

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · 9d

Voters in Caerphilly will go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new Member of the Senedd.

This will likely be both the final by-election ever held to the Senedd, and the last time first-past-the-post is used in a Senedd election, as next year's reforms abolish both of these mechanisms.

Reposted by Democracy Club

Comisiwn Democratiaeth a Ffiniau Cymru @democracycymru.bsky.social · 16d

Help us shape the Welsh election information platform.

By taking part in this study, you'll help us test early ideas for how the site could be organised and what content should be included. 👇

dbcc-tree-test.netlify.app

Learn more about the Platform 👇

dbcc.gov.wales/electoral-ma...

2 1

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · 15d

🚫 A Vacancy doesn't always mean a by-election! Did you know that by-elections are virtually unknown in Northern Ireland? Or that the recent Senedd reforms have abolished them entirely for the Welsh Parliament?

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · 15d

📄 There are seven different ways a vacancy can arise on a UK council. We'll let people know which applies in their case.

📅 By-elections don't have to happen on a Thursday. We've seen 48 non-Thursday elections since 2017.

When and why do by-elections happen?

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · 15d

🧮 More than 200 by-elections happen in the UK each year. But why? We've begun tracking the reason for each vacancy, and will display this on our site to help voters understand why they are heading to the polling station.

democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2025/10...

We take a look at our database of by-elections, and introduce a new feature.

Democracy Club Chair 2025

1 1 3

Reposted by Democracy Club

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 30

🪑 Democracy Club is seeking a new Chair for our board of non-executive directors.

🫵 Do you have chairing experience? Good knowledge of UK politics, civic technology, and/or digital service delivery? You could be the person we’re looking for!

Take a look👇

docs.google.com/document/d/e...

docs.google.com

8 4

Reposted by Democracy Club

mySociety @mysociety.org · 25d

New stuff on TheyWorkForYou ahoy! Join us at lunchtime on Thursday, October 23, when our own @alexparsons.bsky.social and @juliacushion.bsky.social will be talking through what's new.

For full details and to book your free spot: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theyworkfo...

TheyWorkForYou update: a richer view of Parliament

We want to improve the quality of UK democracy by making more and better information available - join us to hear about our latest updates.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

2 1

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Oct 2

📧Stay up to date with Democracy Club's work by subscribing to our mailing list. One email a month; no more, sometimes less.

mailinglist.democracyclub.org.uk/subscription...

Subscribe - Democracy Club Mailing lists

mailinglist.democracyclub.org.uk

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 30

🪑 Democracy Club is seeking a new Chair for our board of non-executive directors.

🫵 Do you have chairing experience? Good knowledge of UK politics, civic technology, and/or digital service delivery? You could be the person we’re looking for!

Take a look👇

docs.google.com/document/d/e...

Democracy Club Chair 2025

docs.google.com

8 4

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 9

You can get the data on the 2026 election candidates by downloading this csv: candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/data/?electi...

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 9

Interested in lending a hand?

Our candidate database is always in need of volunteers to add and update candidate profiles. These will be used by hundreds of thousands of voters to make decisions about who they will vote for next year.

Learn more: candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/volunteer/

Local election candidates should be contactable by voters - British Politics and Policy at LSE

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 9

Our volunteers have identified 303 candidates for the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections and 113 for the Senedd/Welsh Parliament elections.

Voters can see who has been announced in their area at whocanivotefor.co.uk

1 2

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Sep 1

Nice piece here using our data as a jumping off point for a discussion on election candidate contact details.

LSE Blogs @lseblogs.bsky.social · Aug 29

In an age of social media, contacting political candidates should be easy.

Yet Edward de Quay @granthamlse.bsky.social @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social finds only 1 in 4 candidates in the recent local #elections provided a campaign email.

Without ways for voters to ask questions, #democracy suffers.

When candidates seeking political office don't provide a campaign email where voters can contact them, the democratic process suffers.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Opening the register of political parties

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Aug 4

🏵️ Are you thinking of founding a new political party?

This blog from 2023 explains how the UK party register was founded, how it is managed, and how parties select the names, descriptions and emblems used on ballot papers:

democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2023/08...

We take a look at the UK's register of political parties: its history, contents, and our plans to improve its accessibility.

Thoughts on the Elections Strategy

2

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jul 31

New blog: thoughts on the elections strategy

💾 The UK government's elections strategy could be an opportunity to dramatically change the way election information is collected, aggregated, and published: bringing elections firmly into the digital age.

democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2025/07...

Earlier this month the government published its '*Strategy for modern and secure elections*'. We outline some of our ideas for digital implementation of this strategy.

Parish councils and political parties: some initial findings

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jul 29

New blog!

Political parties won 12.9% of English town and parish council seats in 2024/2025. But party involvement at this level is controversial. We take a look at what the data can tell us about partisanship in England's first tier of local government.

democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2025/07...

A dive into the politics of England's first tier of local government.

Election reform: a solid start with work ahead

3 3

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jul 29

During the 2022 local elections we collated this data and found 164 Welsh candidates who had switched allegiance over the previous 12 months. A fun Sankey chart can be found at the bottom of this blog: democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2022/04...

1 2

Reposted by Democracy Club

Alex Parsons @alexparsons.bsky.social · Jul 22

Here's what we took away from the Election Strategy www.mysociety.org/2025/07/22/e...

The new strategy sets a clear direction — but delivery needs a lot of hard work, new infrastructure, and the ambition to go further.

www.mysociety.org

1 5 3

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jul 11

🗳️ The supplementary vote electoral system is returning for Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners.

This is part of the government's English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, published yesterday.

www.gov.uk/government/p...

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: Guidance

www.gov.uk

Reposted by Democracy Club

Electoral Commission @electoralcommission.org.uk · Jul 9

We’ve published our report on the 2025 England local elections. 🗳️

Overall, the elections went smoothly, with no major problems. Most people who voted felt confident the elections went well.

But some challenges remained:

The elections went smoothly, with no major problems. Most people who voted felt confident the elections went well.

1 2 2

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jul 2

🗳️ July is a busy month for council by-elections. 35 are scheduled, include two happening today in North Tyneside.

You can find the full list of upcoming elections on the front of WhoCanIVoteFor.

whocanivotefor.co.uk

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jun 26

The government also intends to abolish the 'committee system', currently used by 38 councils. These 38 would be required to move to the cabinet model.

Democracy Club @democracyclub.org.uk · Jun 26

More information on local authority mayors can be found in this House of Commons Library briefing: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Note that these are different to the 'metro mayors', which head Combined Authorities, and are set to be expanded.