ForeFront: Unions and the Voting Gap

This is an article from ForeFront - PDF can be downloaded from the ForeFront pages.

The TUC's Raj Jethwa argues that unions are key to closing the voting gap in this article from ForeFront.

When citizenship became a statutory aspect of the curriculum in 2002, it was introduced against a backdrop of concern about declining participation in the political process among young people. In fact the figures are quite stark. The turnout in General Elections in the UK has fallen from 84 percent in 1950 to around 60 percent in 2005. The vast majority of that decline took place over the last 15 years.

However, the reality is that the decline in turnout is not uniform for all groups in society.

Class
Although there has been a decline in turnout among all income groups since the mid-1960s, the decline has been most pronounced among those on the lowest incomes.

At the 2005 General Election more than 70 percent of people in social class AB continue to vote, compared to just 54 percent of those in DE.

The official turnout figures for the 2001 and 2005 General Elections show that the seats with the lowest turnouts were overwhelmingly poor inner city constituencies; the ones with the highest turnouts were leafy and affluent. Moreover, that only measures turnout among registered voters. In some of the poorest neighbourhoods, up to 30 percent of adults are not on the electoral register.

Age
However, the most crucial factor is age. Younger people are far less likely to vote. In 2001, 39 percent of 18-24 year olds voted, compared to 70 percent of over-65 year olds. This gap grew at the 2005 election. The gap is much wider than it was 30 years ago, when over 70 percent of 18-24 year olds voted. The determined trend has been that every generation over the last four decades turns out at a lower rate than the one before.

In 1964, 17 people out of 20 had a fairly strong identification with a political party. By 2005 that had fallen to just half. Less than 10 percent of young people would describe themselves as supporters of a political party, compared to a third of adults. Active engagement and allegiance to each of the three main political parties has declined considerably. Those people who are still members of political parties register a weaker degree of identification with their party.

Role of institutions
Educating and informing young people about their rights and responsibilities as responsible citizens can go so far to empowering them, but only so far. What is key is that they have a framework in which to articulate their views. For people who would otherwise feel ignored, or marginalised, that requires institutions which can recruit them into and support their activities, in whatever context. This is exactly the function which trade unions play in the workplace. Traditionally, though, this has often led to greater activism in the local community.

A declining belief in political efficacy is clearly a factor, but just as important is the general decline in organisations and institutions which encourage political participation. Alongside other voluntary associations and civic organisations, trade unions played a major role in engaging people with their rights and responsibilities as informed citizens, not merely encouraging people to vote but to play an active role in the community, as a school governor, magistrate or local councillor, for example.

Today, outside of the trade union movement, only in person in four is a member of any community organisation. Only five percent are members of tenants’ or residents’ organisations and only three percent are members of parent teachers’ associations.

Most crucially, though, only three percent are members of political parties. In 1960, nearly four million people were members of political parties. By 2002 this figure has declined to just 700,000.

Against this backdrop, trade unionism – which in comparison to political parties and other civic institutions, is actually looking much healthier – has to be acknowledged as a legitimate form of democratic participation. However, there is still no explicit mention of trade unionism within the curriculum. Perhaps its time to revisit the issue?