Participation Crisis Debate

• Public trust in MPs has significantly declined
• In 2021, Conservative minister Owen Paterson resigned as an MP after the House of Commons Standards Committee suspended him for 30 days for ‘an egregious case of paid advocacy’
• Media interest in stories about MP scandals has done much to damage the credibility of Westminster and fuel voter disengagement.
• In 2021, according to a YouGov poll, 80% of those surveyed believed there was a fair or significant amount of corruption in UK politics, with just 1% saying there was no corruption.
• What was the average turnout in general elections between 1964 and 1997?

  Around 75%.
• What was the turnout in 2001?

  59.4%
• Why can the 2001 election be considered a ‘happatchy‘ election?


  The Blair government seemed almost certain of being re elected given its strong record of governing competence and William Hague’s uninspiring leadership of the Conservative Party. Therefore, people were content with the status quo
• What was the turnout for the 2017 general election?

  68.7%
• What was the average turnout in general elections from 2005 to 2019?

  65%, suggesting a concerning downward trend
• Significantly, political engagement is least likely from the most socially disadvantaged. For example, in the 2019 general election, 68% of A/B voters voted, but only 53% of D/E voters.
• Although there has been a slight increase in voter turnout for elected mayors, they have not succeeded in generating significant enthusiasm from the electorate. Turnout for mayoral elections have not surpassed 50%. Police and crime commissioners were elected in 2021 with, on average, a turnout of under 35%
• Definition of participation crisis

  A point at which the public have become disengaged from politics and voting levels have fallen so low that the legitimacy of elected governments can be questioned.
• Some evidence suggests claims of a participation crisis are exaggerated. When issues are sufficiently important to the public, they can still vote in very large numbers. For example the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum recorded a 85% turnout
• Although the public is becoming increasingly disengaged in traditional party politics, other forms of participation such as e petitions are becoming more popular. For example, 6 million people singed the Revoke Article 50 and Remain in the EU petition in 2019.
• Recent social movements such as Black Lives Matter and protests on the Israel Gaza conflict has encouraged intense political dialogue, especially among young people