What Is a Referendum?
A referendum is a direct public vote on a single question. This explainer covers how referendums work, the difference between advisory and…
Liam Chen
474 reading now
Politics
Policy, power and elections — non-partisan coverage of how decisions get made.
186 stories
What Is Devolution in the UK?
Devolution is the transfer of certain powers from the UK Parliament to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This explainer covers how it…
Liam Chen
446 reading now
How UK General Elections Work
A UK general election fills all 650 seats in the House of Commons using first-past-the-post. This explainer covers constituencies, how…
Liam Chen
431 reading now
What Is the Civil Service and How Does It Work?
The UK civil service employs over half a million people and serves whichever party is in power. Here is how the permanent bureaucracy…
Liam Chen
424 reading now
How the US Electoral College Works — and Why It Is Controversial
The US does not directly elect its president. The Electoral College system means that winning the most votes nationally does not guarantee…
Liam Chen
465 reading now
The State of UK Housing: Why Building More Is Harder Than It Sounds
Labour has pledged 1.5 million new homes over this parliament and restored mandatory local housebuilding targets via the revised NPPF…
Liam Chen
431 reading now
Reform UK: How Nigel Farage's Party Won 14% of the Vote But Only 5 Seats
Reform UK won 4.1 million votes in the 2024 election—more than the Liberal Democrats—but the electoral system gave them just 5 seats…
Sarah Mitchell
436 reading now
The SNP and Scottish Independence: From 2014 Referendum to Current Crisis
The Scottish National Party dominated Scottish politics for a decade after the 2014 independence referendum, but scandals, leadership…
Sarah Mitchell
370 reading now
The Liberal Democrats and the Coalition: How Five Years in Government Nearly Destroyed the Party
The 2010-2015 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition gave the Lib Dems their first taste of power in 70 years—and nearly destroyed them…
Sarah Mitchell
347 reading now