At the last General Election, 10.4 million people voted for Labour, 14 million for the Conservatives, 3.7 million for the Liberal Democrats, 1.2 million for the SNP, and 865,000 for the Greens. 15.5 million of the UK’s registered electors did not vote at all. 

In a country where ‘Did Not Vote’ was the biggest winner and a further 8 million eligible voters are not properly registered, there is clearly work to be done to boost participation. If our democracy is to work for everyone, it must include everyone. 

There is a correlation between the state of our politics and who is and isn’t registered to vote. At the last election, the Electoral Commission found that whilst 94% of owner-occupiers were registered to vote, just 64% of private renters are. 

With 1 in 5 households renting their homes in the private sector, private renters are a huge constituency. Yet renters’ under-representation at the ballot box makes it easier for governments to deprioritise the urgent changes required to improve renters’ security. Banning No Fault Evictions, more affordable rents, and action on bad landlords are all things that require pressure on elected representatives. 

Young people and those of us from Black, Asian, and mixed-race backgrounds are also much less likely to be registered to vote. If we are going to tackle the intergenerational wealth gap and secure a government that works for all our communities, then a national voter registration campaign to equalise voting numbers from these groups is vital. 

Not enough people know that EU citizens are eligible to vote in the upcoming London Mayoral and Assembly elections or that Commonwealth citizens are eligible to vote in all UK elections either. 

You won’t see much from this embattled Tory government telling you this or plugging voter registration because their last hope is low turnout and disengagement. Following the Elections Act 2023, you now need to show photo ID when voting in–person. This change could see hundreds of thousands turned away from the polling station at the next General Election to solve a non-existent problem. There is a word for this: voter suppression. If nothing else convinces you, let their determination to stop you and others from having your say. 

Registering to vote takes about five minutes. The government we vote for gets five years to remake our country.

Register today at gov.uk/register-to-vote