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Showing posts from August, 2015

Public Engagement

What is the biggest difference between the Labour party of today and it's early incarnation under Keir Hardy? I think the answer to that question lies with all of us. It now astonishing to reflect upon the voter turnout for the General Election of 1950. A staggering 83.9% of the then electorate exercised their right to vote. That figure rose to 66.1% of the electorate at the last election. Why then have so many of us just opted out in the intervening years? Before answering that question, it is not all doom and gloom. The lowest turnout so far was in 2001 when a paltry 59.1% turned out to vote. That is all the more remarkable when we consider that the 1997 election which brought Tony Blair to power amassed an impressive 71.4%. That is quite a drop in just four years. But even that figure of 71.4% is pretty poor when compared to John Major's turnout of 77.7% in 1992. Either we are entering a new period of increased voter engagement or we have just witnessed a blip in the ove