What is Upgrade Holyrood?
Upgrade Holyrood is a political blog dedicated to improving Scotland’s representative politics and delivering relevant political analysis and commentary. Scottish politics needs an upgrade and Upgrade Holyrood aims to provide a space to help facilitate that.
Guided by the principle that our politics can and must be better, Upgrade Holyrood supports:
- Accountable representation: a return to four-year parliamentary terms, as well as a recall rule for lawbreaking and absent MSPs
- Effective representation: an end to dual mandates in Scottish politics and restrictions on second jobs for politicians
- Fair representation: automatic removal from the Scottish Parliament for MSPs who defect to another parties (with the exception of becoming independents)
- Local representation: more powers for local communities across Scotland, evolving powers away from Holyrood
- Proportional representation: a fairer voting system to elect MSPs
This site provides analysis, opinion and research on solutions to improve our democracy as well as the space to provide discussion on change. Additional commentary on Scottish politics more generally will be covered.
Who runs Upgrade Holyrood?
Upgrade Holyrood is run by me, Richard Wood, a Scot from Edinburgh now working in London. I am a passionate advocate of Proportional Representation and wider electoral reforms including a ban on dual mandates in Scotland and London, with experience as an activist, and currently sit on the Unlock Democracy Council.
upgradeholyrood.com 