The EU referendum was 'dire' - the Electoral Reform Society

The Electoral Reform Society (which campaigns for greater democracy in the UK) has described the EU referendum as 'dire' in its report, released this week.

The report claims that the impact of big political figures such as David Cameron was minimal, whilst Donald Trump had swayed a significant number of voters with his Brexit stance. It suggests that both sides were too negative and made so many false claims that voters felt ill-informed. This was in contrast to the vibrant campaign that occurred in the Scottish Independence referendum that has left a lasting legacy of debate and engagement.

For Politics students, the ERS's suggestions for how referendums are conducted going forward makes interesting reading. It would appear that referendums improve democratic representation - individual votes have more significance compared to the First Past the Post system of general and local elections in the UK. However, there is now some debate whether a poorly informed debate negates the advantages that may occur in having a representative parliamentary democracy.