The last election saw the lowest turnout for 80 years. Since then, there has been much head scratching among politicians about what can be done to reinvigorate the electorate’s interest in Westminster politics. All the parties profess to be concerned about the implications of very low turnout for the health of our democracy, but for Labour the problem is a more direct and tangible electoral threat.
Labour’s core supporters – working class and young voters, especially women – are the least likely of all voters to turnout to vote. In 2001, only a third of young women voted. MORI polling suggests that as few as one in five young voters and two in five working-class voters are certain to vote at the next election.
There is no room for complacency and we need to move beyond the idea that voters are simply apathetic. Evidence suggests that votes for Labour are being consciously withheld by sections of the electorate who don’t believe that politics in general and Labour in particular has anything to offer them.
New research from the Electoral Commission, shows that this fundamental disconnection from Westminster politics is more acute among women than men. So, what can be done?
One key solution is to get more women into parliament. We already know that women want to see more women in parliament. Three-quarters of women voters want more female faces at Westminster, a figure that increases to 83 percent for young women.
But for the first time, the Electoral Commission research provides concrete evidence that women are more likely to feel connected and interested in Westminster politics if they are represented by a woman MP. This increased sense of connection manifests itself in higher turnouts among women voters.
At the last election, in constituencies where there was a woman MP, turnout among the female electorate was four percentage points higher than for men. Turnout among men in these constituencies stayed the same. Where there is a woman MP, women voters are also more likely to get involved with campaigning for a political party locally.
Moreover, the presence of a woman MP substantially increases the likelihood that women voters believe that ‘government benefits people like me’.
There can be no doubt that of all the parties, Labour is making the most progress on women’s representation. However, it’s important to remember that there’s still a long way to go – fewer than a quarter of Labour MPs are women. All-women shortlists are being used to select a number of candidates for the next election, but as we get closer to polling day Labour must ensure that they don’t revert to the default position of giving the best seats, especially retirement seats, to ‘favoured sons’. Women must be given the opportunity to fight the best seats, not only because it’s fair, but because, as the Electoral Commission research shows, it makes good electoral sense, too.