Submission to the Political and
Constitutional Reform Committee in relation to its inquiry into voter
registration and turnout in the UK
Introduction
This
submission is made in a personal capacity. I am a UK citizen.
I make two separate
proposals. Most of the submission deals with the first proposal.
·
First proposal. That the Committee should recommend
that the prime minister of the day should appear on a monthly live TV programme.
In each episode of this programme, the PM would have ten sequential five minute
one-to-one conversations with members of the public. The members of the
public would be selected, as far as
possible, so that together they would be
representative of the entire potential electorate – both voters and non-voters,
including those not on the Electoral Register.
· Second proposal. That the Committee should recommend
that the real turnout should be reported
by the Electoral Commission and the government following all elections. The real turnout, unlike the turnout
currently reported, would take into account the best estimate for eligible
voters who were not on the Electoral Register.
1.0
First
Proposal
That the Committee should recommend
that the prime minister of the day should appear on a monthly live TV programme
to have one-to-one conversations with members of the public, who would be
selected, as far as possible, so that
together they would be representative of the entire potential electorate
1.1 I call
the programme I am proposing People &
PM 1-2-1.
I now address the following: -
a)
The
current democratic deficit that People
& PM 1-2-1 should improve
b)
Details
of proposal for People & PM 1-2-1
c)
How
People & PM 1-2-1 should improve
the democratic deficit
d)
Answers
to likely questions about People & PM
1-2-1
a)
The
current democratic deficit that People & PM 1-2-1 should improve
1.2 There
is currently a democratic deficit in the UK because too many people are
excluded from both setting the agenda for the national political conversation
and taking part in that conversation. This conversation is central to how democracy
functions. It is the primary means by which a government learns the demands and
preferences of the people.
1.3 This exclusion is a significant factor in
the high levels of non-voting in the UK, particularly among certain
demographics such as the young and the poor.
1.4 Both the categories of non-voters labelled “alienated”
and those labelled “apathetic” are excluded from setting the agenda and taking
part in the national political conversation.
1.5 Currently, the UK’s political agenda is set
by a small group, whom I call in this submission the “Insiders”, and the national
political conversation is dominated by these Insiders.
1.6 The Insiders are given different names by
different groups. Many of those who recently voted for UKIP might call them the
“Liberal Establishment”, many “alienated” non-voters might call them the “1%”, and
many “apathetic” non-voters might call them, simply, “Them” in contrast to
“Us”.
1.7 The
Insiders include leading politicians, senior people in the media and others
with power and influence. Many Insiders
retain their Insider status whatever the result of a General Election. Fleet Street editors and the editor of the
Today programme on Radio 4 have far more power over the contents of the national
political conversation than almost all members of parliament.
1.8 Most Insiders have all or most of the
following characteristics.
·
They
are middle-class or upper-class
·
They
are well-educated (often private-school and even more often Oxbridge)
·
They
are well-off (often earning over £150,000 p.a. i.e. in the top 1% of tax payers
and with substantial assets too)
·
They
live and/or work in London
·
They
are middle-aged
·
They
are white
·
They
are non-disabled
·
They
are male
1.9 It is not necessary to impute any malign
intent to individual Insiders to recognise that there is a democratic deficit
when a group drawn from such a narrow slice of society sets the political
agenda and dominates the national political conversation. It is inevitable that the agenda will be primarily
what is of concern to Insiders, which very often will not be the issues of
concern to many, if not most, of the potential electorate.
1.10 For example, when Insiders set the agenda,
the national political conversation is more likely to be taken up with the
minutiae of who is up or down at Westminster or the concerns of top rate tax
payers (only 300,000 people), rather than the problems of millions of people at
the bottom of society.
1.11 According to the largest UK poverty study
published on 19 June 2014 the following conditions currently exist in the UK
·
18
million people cannot afford adequate housing
·
One
in three people cannot afford to heat their homes adequately in winter
·
4
million children and adults are not properly fed by today’s standards
The Insiders rarely put
these burning issues on the political agenda. It is perhaps unsurprising, then,
that many of the people suffering such poverty are too “apathetic” to vote. It
is understandable if they think the system is not concerned with people like
them and that voting is pointless.
b) Details of proposal for People & PM 1-2-1
1.12 People
& PM 1-2-1 should give a voice to people who currently have no voice in
the national political conversation. I
propose that People & PM 1-2-1
would have the following features
•
In
each episode there would be ten sequential one-to-one conversations between the
PM and ten participants
•
Each
participant would have five minutes with the PM
•
The
PM and each participant would sit on the set as equals
•
The
participant would decide the nature of the conversation. Some are likely to be
adversarial but others, perhaps, most, will not be
•
Programme
would be live at prime time with no studio audience
•
Programme
would be monthly
•
Programme
would take place in locations around the UK. The UK would be divided into 12
areas, so the whole country would be covered in one year
•
Participants
would not apply to take part but would be selected
•
The
ten participants in each episode would together, as far as possible, be a representative
sample of the potential electorate from the area in which that month’s
programme is based
•
Participants
would be selected by an organisation with the necessary skills to select a
truly representative sample. It is important that this includes potential
voters who are harder to reach such as the millions not on the Electoral
Register
•
If
someone selected does not want to take part then someone who is from a similar
demographic should be chosen in their place
c) How
People & PM 1-2-1 would improve
the democratic deficit
1.13
The participants on People &
PM 1-2-1 would be a cross-section of the country’s population and would
include many people who currently have no voice in the national political
conversation. The programme would bring a bracing blast of democratising fresh
air into the current stale political debate.
1.14 Through seeing people they can identify with
asking the PM about issues that concern them, People & PM 1-2-1 would help reduce alienation, apathy and
anger among the public and would increase political engagement and voting.
1.15 It is likely that issues first raised on People & PM `1-2-1 would be taken up
by other media and thus shape the political agenda.
1.16
People & PM 1-2-1 would make the political class aware
of the real issues of concern to the public, rather than as at present the
issues that the Insiders place on the political agenda.
d)
Answers to likely questions about People & PM 1-2-1
1.17 Will
participants be sufficiently capable and articulate? It is true that most
people will not be as well informed or articulate as the Insiders. However,
what they want to ask and the issues that concern them are no less valid, as
would probably quickly become apparent. It is worth remembering that one
hundred years ago, it was argued that no women and the poorest 40% of men were
not sufficiently capable to be entrusted with the vote. No one now advances
this view.
1.18 Will
PM not run rings around the participants?
A PM would need to be careful. He or she would be ill-advised to use ridicule,
for example, against a member of the public as PMs do at PMQs. No doubt, a PM could
still try and avoid a question but that may be difficult with a determined
questioner who has five whole minutes.
1.19
Why would a TV company agree to
broadcast People & PM 1-2-1? The BBC ought to run the programme as part of
its public service remit. In any event, as no one would know how the ten
“random” participants chosen each month are going to act; there will be ten
mini-reality TV dramas in each episode. The programme might well be a ratings
hit.
1.20 Why
would a PM agree to take part? Eventually People & PM 1-2-1 could become part of the UK’s unwritten
constitution, like PMQs or the PM’s weekly audience with the Queen and a PM
would be obliged to take part. A PM might agree in the first place if there was
sufficient pressure to do so, in order to reduce the current democratic deficit,
including a recommendation by this Committee.
1.21 Would
this be a good use of PM’s time? There
would be few activities in a PM’s calendar which are likely to be a better use
of his or her time.
2.0 Second
Proposal
The Committee should recommend
that the government and Electoral Commission report the real turnout after every election
2.1 The turnout figures which are currently
reported after elections significantly under-represent the actual level of
non-voting as they only show the percentage of people on the Electoral Register
who have voted and ignore all the people who were entitled to vote but who were
not registered.
2.2 According to the Electoral Commission, in
December 2010 at least 6 million people in Great Britain were not registered
and in April 2011 the number was approximately 8.5 million. Although some people may be on the register
but at a previous address, it is clear that the scale of non-registration is
very significant.
2.3 There
are some fears that the level of non-registration will increase as a result of
the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration.
2.4 I calculate that whereas the currently
reported turnout at the 2010 election was 65.1%, the best estimate of the real turnout was 57.5%.
2.5 I also calculate that whereas the percentage
of 18-24 year olds who voted in 2010 is
44% according to an Ipsos Mori poll, once the Electoral Commission’s
estimate that only 56% of that age group were on the Electoral Register is
taken into account, the best estimate of the real turnout of 18-24 year olds is the startlingly low figure of 24.6%.
2.6 Although the real turnout figure will always
be an approximation, it would be an important step if the best estimate of the real turnout figure was reported after
every election by the government and the Electoral Commission, in addition to
the currently reported turnout figure. The reason is simple. In order to
address the problem of non-voting, people should first know the real scale of
that problem.
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