Here at the halfway point of an extraordinary year, we wanted to take stock and update all our supporters on the progress of Fair Vote UK’s 2020 so far.

While for many it has felt like a year to be “cancelled,” we are feeling quite the opposite. The impact of Covid-19 and the important, powerful Black Lives Matter protests suggest 2020 could be a consequential year for progressive change.

For us, the year started with the publication of our landmark report – Defending our Democracy in the Digital Age – in January.

The result of a major inquiry in 2019 that drew evidence from MPs, regulators, peers and campaigners, the report and its 20 recommendations provide the most comprehensive answer yet to the concerns around election safeguarding in the UK.

If 2019 had been a year of consolidation and preparation, 2020 was to be a year of action and implementation. 

Covid-19 threatened to undermine this plan but we have taken our campaign online, holding productive virtual meetings with lawmakers and campaigners from across the UK. 

With the digitisation of our lives accelerating as a result of the current crisis, the need to modernise and strengthen our electoral law has become even greater.  

Our conversations have shown that in every UK country and in every UK political party, there is the will for sensible reform. We cannot, however, risk complacency and must seize this moment to enshrine our recommendations in law.

The hard work of turning recommendations into law is being funded in part by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, from whom we were privileged to have received a grant.

With a US Presidential election in November already marred in controversy and parts of the UK set to go to the polls next May, these issues remain as urgent as ever and we’ll keep fighting to defend our democracy.