In any properly functioning democracy, gaining 33.7% of the vote would be seen as a defeat. But at last year’s UK general election, that same result saw Labour win a huge parliamentary majority. Delve into the numbers deeper, and you’ll find that Keir Starmer’s ‘overwhelming victory’ had the support of just 17.3% of the electorate as a whole.
Only 9.3 million people voted for Labour, compared to around 27.5 million who either failed to cast a ballot on the day or failed, for whatever reason, to be registered. Turnout was below 60%, the second lowest ever since universal franchise. Trust in Britain’s political system has scarcely been lower.
It’s for this reason, David Klemperer argued in openDemocracy earlier this year, that the UK needs compulsory voting to ensure a truly democratic level of participation in elections and generate fairer outcomes. He isn’t wrong. Compulsory voting would help UK politics – but it wouldn’t be enough to fix it.
