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danieldwilliamI am standing for election to the Council of the Electoral Reform Society. My election statement is below. Two other Unlock Democracy Council members are also standing, James Grindrod and Stephan Carter. We hope that having some cross over of membership of the two Councils will help the two organisations work well together.
You can still join the ERS and vote in the election. In order to vote you'll need to be register by the 24th July.
https://electoral-reform.netdonor.net/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1754&ea.campaign.id=20794
The last Council election had about 650 voters so your vote could well be influential. Also you can experience voting using STV.
Danny Zinkus Statement ERS Council Election Statement
We live in exciting constitutional times. From the excitement of IndyRef, talk of the Northern Powerhouse and the legacy of half-done reform from the last Parliament reform has never been more relevant and a strong vibrant ERS can play a pivotal role in delivering reform for the people of Britain.
I am Danny Zinkus Sutton. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am a qualified accountant. I am a member of Unlock Democracy’s Council. I have served on the board of several charities. I am co-convenor of the Edinburgh reform group and was co-chair of the Edinburgh Yes to Fairer Votes group.
I am an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants with over 15 years of experience of the financial management of small and large organisations, in the charititable, public and corporate sectors.
As a Council member of Unlock Democracy I am a director of UD’s asset management subsidiary, sat on the Management Board and am currently serving on the strategy review working group.
I have served as chair and treasurer of several small charities.
During the AV referendum I led the Edinburgh Yes to Fairer Votes Group and together with my co-convenor continue to organise and campaign in Edinburgh.
We live in a time of constitutional crisis. Great constitutional threats loom over our nations. At the same time there are great opportunities. In IndyRef we have had one hugely engaging referendum about the future of our nation. Who can doubt that the foundation of proportional representation was a pre-condition of the most engaging political debate in Scottish history? With the EU referendum we will soon have a second opportunity. And devolution to regions and nations is firmly on the agenda. Never has the ERS had such an opportunity to explain how electoral reform will improve people’s lives by making decision making fairer and better, leading to higher quality outcomes in law-making and public services.
I welcome the ERS’ engagement with wider constitutional issues. I was thrilled to take part in ERS Scotland’s Democracy to the Max programme. I support the push for STV for local government in England and Wales. I have seen STV work and work well in Scotland leading to huge number of contested elections and coalition councils.
I believe in and campaign for wider constitutional change but a move to Proportional Representation, is the single biggest reform we can make to improve our democracy. STV opens the door to all the other voices and all the other constitutional reforms we need in our political life. Electoral reform shifts the ground of the wider constitutional debate. That is why a well-funded and well-organised campaigning ERS is essential to the campaign for electoral reform and also to wider reform in the UK.
I believe the ERS should continue to campaign rather than lobby for electoral reform. Whilst a mastery of the technical merits of voting systems is a vital foundation to our work, in order to achieve reform we must reach out to people and politicians and show them that reform is needed and wanted and will improve our politics. We must engage in the wider constitutional debate but we must make the case for the central role of proportional representation in reform.
I hope that with my experience of financial management, of corporate, charity and reform group governance and campaigning for reform I can be a useful servant to the ERS in its campaign.
You can still join the ERS and vote in the election. In order to vote you'll need to be register by the 24th July.
https://electoral-reform.netdonor.net/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1754&ea.campaign.id=20794
The last Council election had about 650 voters so your vote could well be influential. Also you can experience voting using STV.
Danny Zinkus Statement ERS Council Election Statement
We live in exciting constitutional times. From the excitement of IndyRef, talk of the Northern Powerhouse and the legacy of half-done reform from the last Parliament reform has never been more relevant and a strong vibrant ERS can play a pivotal role in delivering reform for the people of Britain.
I am Danny Zinkus Sutton. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am a qualified accountant. I am a member of Unlock Democracy’s Council. I have served on the board of several charities. I am co-convenor of the Edinburgh reform group and was co-chair of the Edinburgh Yes to Fairer Votes group.
I am an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants with over 15 years of experience of the financial management of small and large organisations, in the charititable, public and corporate sectors.
As a Council member of Unlock Democracy I am a director of UD’s asset management subsidiary, sat on the Management Board and am currently serving on the strategy review working group.
I have served as chair and treasurer of several small charities.
During the AV referendum I led the Edinburgh Yes to Fairer Votes Group and together with my co-convenor continue to organise and campaign in Edinburgh.
We live in a time of constitutional crisis. Great constitutional threats loom over our nations. At the same time there are great opportunities. In IndyRef we have had one hugely engaging referendum about the future of our nation. Who can doubt that the foundation of proportional representation was a pre-condition of the most engaging political debate in Scottish history? With the EU referendum we will soon have a second opportunity. And devolution to regions and nations is firmly on the agenda. Never has the ERS had such an opportunity to explain how electoral reform will improve people’s lives by making decision making fairer and better, leading to higher quality outcomes in law-making and public services.
I welcome the ERS’ engagement with wider constitutional issues. I was thrilled to take part in ERS Scotland’s Democracy to the Max programme. I support the push for STV for local government in England and Wales. I have seen STV work and work well in Scotland leading to huge number of contested elections and coalition councils.
I believe in and campaign for wider constitutional change but a move to Proportional Representation, is the single biggest reform we can make to improve our democracy. STV opens the door to all the other voices and all the other constitutional reforms we need in our political life. Electoral reform shifts the ground of the wider constitutional debate. That is why a well-funded and well-organised campaigning ERS is essential to the campaign for electoral reform and also to wider reform in the UK.
I believe the ERS should continue to campaign rather than lobby for electoral reform. Whilst a mastery of the technical merits of voting systems is a vital foundation to our work, in order to achieve reform we must reach out to people and politicians and show them that reform is needed and wanted and will improve our politics. We must engage in the wider constitutional debate but we must make the case for the central role of proportional representation in reform.
I hope that with my experience of financial management, of corporate, charity and reform group governance and campaigning for reform I can be a useful servant to the ERS in its campaign.
