Ballots betrayed? The crisis of political representation

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Sunday 20 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

In recent years, it has become common to hear people describe themselves as ‘politically homeless’. Many traditional Labour and Conservative voters have expressed a disaffection with their parties, claiming they no longer represent their interests and values. In 2019, many talked of a political realignment – one which could see the major parties reform along class lines, at least in part inspired by Brexit. But, as this realignment failed to emerge, it is perhaps unsurprising that just 59.9 per cent of people voted in the 2024 General Election – the second-lowest election turnout since 1918.

The election results themselves have highlighted what many call a ‘crisis of political representation’. The Labour Party won nearly two thirds of parliamentary seats with just a third of the popular vote. Conversely, the vote shares of both the Green Party and newcomers Reform UK were not matched by a representative number of seats in parliament. For example, Reform UK won 14.3 per cent of the overall vote share, with only five of their candidates elected. This represents one MP per 821,322 votes, while the Labour victory amounted to one Labour MP per 23,615 votes.

Many argue that the larger and more established parties have the resources and data to make their campaigns more efficient than new and emerging parties. This fact alone is likely to see the dominance of the two-party system left intact, at a time when more independent candidates and smaller parties have emerged to meet voters’ lack of representation. Some commentators went as far as to describe the 2024 election as ‘the most distorted election result in UK history’, with many asking if it is time for the UK to abandon its ‘first past the post’ (FPTP) electoral system in favour of some form of proportional representation (PR).

While FPTP was once celebrated as delivering clear results and a stable government, the past decade of political turmoil in the UK may have weakened this argument. Many FPTP advocates point to countries like France, where the recent election returned a hung parliament and has led to a crisis in governance. However, PR advocates can also pick European examples, pointing to the rise of the BBB (Farmer-Citizen Party) in the Netherlands, which emerged to represent farmers’ interests and has grown to become a governing party.

Would simply changing the voting system solve the problem of political representation? Some have argued for more referendums – on everything from immigration law to Net Zero policies. Did the backlash to Brexit show that referendums are doomed to divide, or a necessary boost to democratic participation? Could other electoral tweaks be implemented, such as smaller constituencies? Would PR simply lead to a situation where coalitions must be formed, forcing parties to surrender their principles to ensure legislation is passed? And are we in danger of forgetting the importance of ideas in political engagement, when getting hung up on the technicalities of voting?

SPEAKERS
Steven Barrett
barrister; broadcaster; writer on law, Spectator

Dr Richard Johnson
writer; senior lecturer in politics, Queen Mary, University of London; co-author, Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922

Dr Mo Lovatt
national coordinator, Debating Matters; programme coordinator, Academy of Ideas

Jo-Anne Nadler
political commentator and writer; campaigner, Don't Divide Us

Richard Tice MP
member of parliament for Boston and Skegness; deputy leader, Reform UK; businessman

CHAIR
Dr James Panton
deputy head welfare, St Edwards School, Oxford; associate lecturer in philosophy, The Open University