Audit of Political Engagement 4 - 30 Mar 2007

The fourth Audit of Political Engagement undertaken jointly by the Hansard Society and the Electoral Commission was launched at a meeting in the House of Commons on Tuesday March 27. Speakers were Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Justine Greening MP, Lord (Paul) Tyler, Peter Riddell (The Times and Hansard Society)

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The meeting opened with an introduction from Glyn Mathias, a commissioner at the Electoral Commission, who pointed out that although indicators showed a period of relative stability with no decline from the last Audit, there was still a large minority who were completely disengaged from politics. There was also a continuing worrying age differential – only 24% of 18-24 year-olds would vote in an election tomorrow compared to over 70% in the 55+ age group.

Hazel Blears said that politicians were paying less attention to opinion polls than they used to as in recent months polls had become less of a guide. If politicians followed polls slavishly, they would never take decisions. She thought that the Audit confirmed the de-politicisation of our society. The pursuit of democratic party politics is seen as a disreputable and dishonest activity. Party politics is becoming a minority interest. She stressed that political parties are a fundamental part of a democracy and it is desirable that party politics should be central to people’s lives – rather than as a brand removed from people’s lives. She called on everyone interested in these issues to celebrate politics as being central to a vibrant democracy.

Justine Greening said that the problem is the disconnect between issues and ‘politics’. It is worrying that each new cohort of young people is less likely to vote. This doesn’t mean that they don’t care – they are very switched on to issues such as climate change and make poverty history. Young people have to understand that they need to vote. Not only does it make a difference at national level, it matters at local level as there are very few ‘safe’ seats. Politicians and those involved in the political world must talk about issues such as crime that directly affect young people.

Paul Tyler said that there was a missing link between people who want to have a say in how the country is governed and people who feel that they actually do have a say. This points up the disconnect between interest in political issues and feeling able to influence the way the country is run. At election time, he said, there are only about 150 seats (marginals) where the parties concentrate their efforts. There is a correlation between the perception that it’s worth voting and actually voting. He stressed that polls are only snapshots. The most important thing is effective dialogue. We have to learn new ways of communicating using new technology. We have to engage supporters, not just members of political parties.

Peter Riddell said that in the debate about the nature of politics, no-one has quite agreed what is wrong. It is over-simplistic to say if only we had more direct democracy for people to get involved then the problem would be solved. An example is the Downing Street e-petitions. These should be parliament not government exercises. He stressed that polls are only as useful as the nature of the questions asked. People have contradictory views and often don’t understand the issues involved. The Audit shows up these contradictions. There is a danger of assuming that there is a pool of untapped activists out there just waiting to be asked to get involved. The real challenge is to make our representative system work better – connecting people between as well as at elections. We need to improve the representative system’s mechanisms.