With voter turnout unequal and at a near-historic low, the Constitution Society's Dr David Klemperer makes the case for compulsory voting
Dr David Klemperer is a Research Fellow on electoral reform at the Constitution Society, an independent educational charity that promotes public understanding of the British Constitution. He is also a co-editor of Renewal, a journal of social democracy.
Democracy depends on elections. In a democracy, elections based on universal suffrage
provide the central mechanism for linking citizens to the state, and for ensuring that
governments are incentivised to serve the interests of the public. When voters cease to
participate, this mechanism breaks down, and democracy ceases to work as it should. The
result is democratic crisis.
Here in the UK, we now face just such a democratic crisis. At the last general election in July 2024, turnout amongst registered voters fell to a near-historic low of 59.7%. Taking into account gaps in registration, the IPPR suggests that barely more than half of eligible voters cast a ballot.
This low turnout is also unequal turnout, with some demographic groups participating at
much higher rates than others. Data from Ipsos-Mori suggests that at the last general election,
turnout was more than 10 points higher amongst white voters than ethnic minorities, more
than 20 points higher amongst upper-class voters than working-class voters, and more than 30
points higher amongst over-65s than under-65s and amongst homeowners than renters.
In a new report published by the Constitution Society, I set out how these disparities in
turnout are dangerously warping UK politics, and contributing to high inequality, low growth,
and growing dissatisfaction with democracy. The report argues that low and unequal turnout
have left the UK with an “unrepresentative electorate” – one that is notably richer, older,
whiter and more secure than the UK population at large.
The effect of this unrepresentative electorate is to create warped incentives for our politicians – in particular those in government, who are pushed to prioritise the interests of high-turnout demographics in pursuit of winning re-election. Specifically, these turnout disparities have in recent decades incentivised governments to disproportionately prioritise the interests of an older, economically-insulated minority at the expense of the wider public.
The result has been distributional decisions favouring the old over the young, and macro-economic choices favouring asset prices over economic growth. The inequality and stagnation generated by these choices have in turn contributed to the rising dissatisfaction with democracy that is one of the primary drivers of low turnout.
The UK thus risks becoming trapped in a vicious cycle of democratic decay, in which falling
turnout creates increasingly warped incentives for politicians, leading to worsening socio-
economic outcomes that in turn drive voter turnout ever further downwards.
Democratic reformers need to face up to this challenge. Although the changes most often
proposed to UK elections – such as automatic voter registration, votes at 16, or the
introduction of proportional representation – have been shown to have some effect on
turnout, none has been shown to boost turnout sufficiently to counter the effects of this
vicious cycle.
It is for this reason that the Constitution Society has supported the creation of a new Campaign for Compulsory Voting, which exists to argue for the one reform that has been reliably demonstrated to both dramatically increase and significantly equalise turnout.
Compulsory voting is currently used in 22 democracies across the world, including Australia, Belgium, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil. The evidence is clear that it is highly effective in boosting turnout, with countries like Australia regularly seeing turnout rates above 90%.
universal, there is little scope for demographic disparities in participation.
Crucially, international evidence suggests that the higher and more equal turnout produced by compulsory voting also has a beneficial down-stream impact on social, political, and economic outcomes: compulsory voting has been associated lower inequalities in income and wealth, higher levels of social investment, and greater satisfaction with democracy.
Compulsory voting thus offers a means of breaking the vicious cycle: by drastically
increasing turnout it, it can significantly improve the incentives facing politicians. This in
turn helps to generate better policy, and to address the root causes of democratic discontent.
Compulsory voting is not a new idea in British politics. It has in the past been endorsed by
political titans like Winston Churchill, and in the early 2000s it was actively pushed by
politicians like Peter Hain, Tom Watson, and David Blunkett, and by think tanks like the
IPPR. The last years have seen renewed interest in the idea: it has recently been discussed by
think tanks like Demos, popular podcasts like “The Rest is Politics”, and in 2023 a “Civic
duty to vote” Bill was debated in the Senedd Cymru.
Today, YouGov polling conducted for the Constitution Society shows that a plurality of the
public would favour the introduction of compulsory voting – with 48% expressing support,
and only 42% opposed.
Our campaign – which brings together Westminster parliamentarians, devolved legislators,
academics, and democracy activists from across the four nations of the United Kingdom –
intends to build on this renewed interest in and openness to compulsory voting. We hope to
respond to growing concerns about the health of UK democracy by building a political
consensus for compulsory voting as an essential part of the solution to the UK’s democratic
malaise.
History shows that when new groups of people are brought into the electorate, the knock-on
effects can be profound. Women’s suffrage, the extension of the franchise to the working classes, and the introduction of civil rights in the United States all changed whose votes
politicians were forced to compete for, and thus whose interests they felt the need to serve.
In the UK today, compulsory voting offers a way out of the vicious cycle of democratic
decay. By mandating and enforcing universal electoral participation, we can reconnect
disillusioned non-voters with the democratic process, and force our politics to start better
serving their interests.
You can read the full report here.
The Tories introduced FPTP for mayoral and PCC elections in 2022, a change seen as an attempt to boost their chances of winning elections
Labour has decided to scrap the First Past the Post voting system for Mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in a move MPs and campaigners have welcomed as recognition that FPTP is “not fit for purpose”.
The English Devolution and Empowerment Bill, which was published yesterday, has set out the government’s plans to scrap FPTP and bring back the more representative Supplementary Vote (SV) system.
Under the SV system, voters have a first and second preference vote. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote on first preferences, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and their second preferences are distributed to the remaining two candidates.
The Tories introduced FPTP for Mayoral and PPC elections in 2022, in a move that was considered a “stitch up” that would help them win elections.
Campaigners say the change to FPTP resulted in mayors being elected on very small shares of the vote, thereby “undermining their democratic mandates and eroding trust in the political system”.
In this year’s elections, mayors from all three parties were elected on a small share of the vote.
For instance, Labour won the West of England mayoralty on just 25% of the vote.
While the Conservative won in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with 28% of the vote.
Reform UK won the Hull and East Yorkshire mayoralty on 36% of the vote, and Greater Lincolnshire on 42% of the vote.
Campaigners have pointed out that last year’s general election result was the most unrepresentative in history, with Labour winning almost two thirds of the seats with just one third of the popular vote, and six out of ten voters (58%) ending up with an MP they did not vote for.
Alex Sobel MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections, said: “Since the Tories imposed First Past the Post on mayoral elections, it has failed to fairly represent voters, undermined the ability of mayors to speak for their whole communities, and therefore eroded trust in politics.
“By committing to changing this, the Government has wisely taken a step in the right direction – but First Past the Post is just as flawed when it comes to general elections. The Government should set up a National Commission on Electoral Reform to find a fair, representative way forward.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Labour to scrap first past the post for mayoral and PCC elections
The Labour government has set out plans to scrap the first past the post voting system for mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections in England.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, introduced to Parliament yesterday, aims to give people across England the power to “take back control of their regions, from bolstered rights to save cherished community assets”.
Among the measures in the bill includes a provision that will switch the voting system for mayoral elections in England back to the supplementary vote system, reversing a reform made by the Conservatives in 2022.
The government said the legislation will deliver on its manifesto commitment to shift power away from Westminster and deliver a decade of national renewal across the nation.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We were elected on a promise of change, not just for a few areas cherry-picked by a Whitehall spreadsheet, but for the entire country. It was never going to be easy to deliver the growth our country desperately needed with the inheritance we were dumped with.
“But that’s why we are opting to devolve not dictate and delivering a Bill that will rebalance decade old divides and empower communities. We’re ushering in a new dawn of regional power and bringing decision making to a local level so that no single street or household is left behind and every community thrives from our Plan for Change.”
Alex Sobel, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections and Labour MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said: “Since the Tories imposed First Past the Post on mayoral elections, it has failed to fairly represent voters, undermined the ability of mayors to speak for their whole communities, and therefore eroded trust in politics.
“By committing to changing this, the government has wisely taken a step in the right direction – but First Past the Post is just as flawed when it comes to general elections. The government should set up a National Commission on Electoral Reform to find a fair, representative way forward.”
Andrew Ranger, MP for Wrexham and member of the APPG, welcomed the move but called on the government to also review the voting system used for general elections.
“It’s hugely welcome that the Government has listened to Labour MPs and mayors on this issue – who want to be sure that new and existing authorities are seen as legitimate, credible and effective. Ensuring that directly elected mayors have a broad and positive mandate is crucial to that.
“I hope the government will similarly embrace a discussion about making our general elections fair, representative, and fit for the 21st century.”
Beccy Cooper, Labour MP for Worthing West, said: “The government is right to put fairness at the heart of elections for mayors. These announcements are hugely welcome and will go some way to addressing the democratic vandalism of the last Conservative government.
“First past the post is not fit for purpose – for mayors or for Westminster. We need a National Commission for Electoral Reform to look at the options for fairer, trustworthy elections
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