Robert McIlveen
Research Fellow, 2009-2010
This report tests the Alternative Vote in six key areas: proportionality; safe seats; decisive results; wasted votes; tactical voting and MPs being elected on less than 50% of the vote and finds that in only one (the latter) does it constitute an improvement over First Past the Post.
Local Seats for Local People? finds that the Boundary Review process in the UK is inefficient and produces undemocratic results. The report sets out proposals which will drastically reduce the time taken to conduct a review, depoliticise the process and ultimately improve representation.
Paul Goodman writes for Policy Exchange on what it is that we want from our MPs, at a time when the whole political class has rarely been held in lower esteem.
The report suggests that a carbon tax would be a more cost-effective way of ensuring that Britain goes greener more quickly and more efficiently with a simpler, better targeted policy which is credible over the long term.
This report not only sets out an alternative approach for the next climate change treaty; it also develops the reasoning behind it. While the result will be imperfect and is not, by design, as cost-effective as a Kyoto-style approach would have been if it had worked, the approach outlined has a much greater chance of actually delivering significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, as the case of HFCs demonstrates, it already has.
At a Rate of Knots argues that we can make much more of the river Thames for very little cost, producing a new, integrated and expanded service which will offer a great new option for many of London’s commuters. The river is a core part of London’s identity yet it is cut off from its transport network. This report sets out how to correct this.
The report examines how we can meet the challenge of securing sufficient and secure gas supplies in the decade ahead. As our nuclear and coal power plants shut down gas will be needed to fill the gap, which will require a more strategic approach from government.
A Wasted Opportunity recommends the radical overhaul of the UK's waste system to reduce the cost on households, improve recycling rates, increase local authority efficiency and expand the proportion of the UK's energy needs met through waste.
To help alleviate the crisis of confidence in Britain’s liberalised energy market, Knowledge is power sets out a number of options to improve transparency for consumers and the market.
