Stuart Weir - openDemocracy (Page 11)

Negotiated Constitutionalism

In his landmark speech on political reform yesterday deputy prime minister Nick Clegg set out the new coalition government's agenda for restoring civil liberties and rolling back the

By Stuart Weir

/ 20 May 2010

Contemptible Paxman "interview" with Caroline Lucas

Jeremy Paxman must have been one of those vile boys who tear the wings off insects or pick on kids out of the loop to bully. What else can we

By Stuart Weir

/ 3 May 2010

Hung parliament debate in Cambridge

The surge of interest among young people at this election is one of the most heartening aspects of the current political mood. For that we must acknowledge that Nick Clegg’

By Stuart Weir

/ 30 Apr 2010

An interesting sidelight into the attitude of the Conservative Party to democracy. Nick Hillman, the Tory candidate in Cambridge, revealed at the POWER2010 and local democracy club hustings last night

By Stuart Weir

/ 30 Apr 2010

The Lib Dems must hold firm on the need for PR

Nick Clegg’s party (and the Lib Dems are more of a party than their two larger rivals) have possibly to make two crucial decisions if they hold the balance

By Stuart Weir

/ 26 Apr 2010

Can Labour be trusted on Lords reform?

Gordon Brown’s commitment to ‘change’, that superficial single word reaching out for the political alchemy that both main parties hope will transform their determination to hang onto the status-quo

By Stuart Weir

/ 22 Apr 2010

Shameful scare-mongering over a "hung parliament" ignores all the evidence

“No man is an island, / Entire of itself. / Each is a piece of the continent...” John Donne evidently could not have predicted that the dominant actors in the English political

By Stuart Weir

/ 21 Apr 2010

What reforms should we demand out of a hung parliament?

The public mood is for the moment at least so favourably inclined towards a ‘hung’ – i.e., more balanced – Parliament that the ‘Hang ‘em’ campaign feels rather like a small

By Stuart Weir

/ 20 Apr 2010

Book review: Choosing an electoral system

It isn’t just a case of PR versus first-past-the-post. We need to consider in depth the choice between electoral systems for elections to Parliament – and their diverse variations. Stuart Weir reports on the best guide yet to this choice.

By Stuart Weir

/ 27 Mar 2010

Revising our constitution - Even if our parties are the problem we still need PR

On Monday evening there was a gathering of a lawyerly London elite with a sprinkling of other political intellectuals to discuss Richard Gordon ‘s new book, Repairing British Politics. This

By John Jackson and Stuart Weir

/ 24 Mar 2010

Michael Wills - a response: your main reform is a botched stich-up

An OurKingdom conversation: Michael Wills > John Jackson > Michael Wills > this post I can quite understand why Michael Wills is upset about John Jackson's note on

By Stuart Weir

/ 10 Mar 2010

Hattersley the prodigal

Roy Hattersley told a packed hall at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge that he had changed his mind on proportional representation. He was scornful about the term “electoral reform”

By Stuart Weir

/ 9 Mar 2010