Welcome to the October edition of Democracy Club’s regular newsletter. All past emails are accessible in an online archive.

When and why do by-elections happen?

By-elections are a core feature of the UK’s political system - you only need to look at the intense media coverage of the Senedd Cymru election in Caerphilly this month to understand that. But why do by-elections happen? Following our latest update, Who Can I Vote For will now give users the reason for each by-election, to help them better understand why they are heading to the polls. Our latest blog introduces this update and takes a look at UK by-elections more generally. Read it now.

Job alert

The UK Electoral Commission is seeking an experienced Product Manager to lead the design, development and delivery of the Commission’s online voter information tool – the first in-house project of its kind. You will oversee a £1.9 million project budget, and work with us at Democracy Club as the Commission takes over the running of our polling station finder! Hurry though, applications close on 2 November (Sunday!). Learn more.

Senedd recall polls

The Welsh Government has published an interesting bill which would allow Senedd members convicted of crimes to be subject to a 'recall poll’ - essentially a referendum on that person. Unlike a UK parliament recall petition this would be a formal poll with two options (recall/retain). As by-elections have been abolished for the new Senedd, removing the member would see them either replaced by the next person on their party's list, or, if an independent, see the seat left vacant until the next election. Learn more about the bill.

The challenges of running modern elections

What do the closure of village halls, the covid pandemic, and the rising cost of postage all have in common? They've all substantially increased the complexity of electoral administration. Laura Lock from the Association of Electoral Administrators sat down with the Local Government Information Unit for a long interview earlier this month, which you can see on the LGIU website.

Do the government’s electoral reforms go far enough?

This was the question asked at a University College London Constitution Unit roundtable on 24 October, Chaired by Professor Alan Renwick. You can listen to it now YouTube.

All Party Parliamentary Groups

On a different note, our friends at mySociety have been doing some fascinating work on All Party Parliamentary Group membership in the UK parliament. APPGs are the clubs MPs can join, focused on particular topics - as varied as countries, cuisines or cause. Julia Cushion breaks it all down on the mySociety blog.

Elections to watch

25 council by-elections are scheduled for the coming month. You can view the full list (and find out why they are happening!) on the front page of Who Can I Vote For?

All the best,

The Democracy Club Team