Is there a north-south divide political divide? A major study into public attitudes – Northern Lights – examines the new political and social geography of England. The research finds that the way people vote is less and less determined by their social class, and more by how they think the government is performing and their attitudes to controversial issues like migration and crime.

Traditional thinking aligns economic growth with happiness. Conclusion: we’re in for a long dose of unhappiness. But the outlook for Britain need not be depressing. If governments, organisations and individuals responded with a new way of thinking, it would boost happiness and well-being.

This new research note surveys existing work on the subject to show that the Alternative Vote system would create far more problems than it has a hope of solving.

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.

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.

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.

This report calls for a new approach to politics in Scotland, based on honesty in measuring performance, radicalism in policy making and a generational truce on the constitutional issue.

The Renewal of Government is a short analysis of the many issues facing Britain today. It recommends a root-and-branch reform of public policy, and shows in detail how to implement it.

In this short volume of essays, the leading think tanks debate the pros and cons of a range of approaches to putting democracy in the United Kingdom on a firmer footing. It features contributions from CentreForum, Demos, the Fabian Society, ippr, Policy Exchange and Reform.