Who cares who wins? Fewer than ever, says survey | Charter 2010

Growing disaffection with the current British political system is revealed in a new report from the National Centre for Social Research.

It shows a continuing decline in the number of people who can be bothered to vote. And, of those who actually make it to the ballot box, many do so simply because they feel a sense of “civic duty” rather than any great political conviction.

The British Social Attitudes survey finds that, whereas nearly seven out of ten Britons in 1991 thought “it’s everyone’s duty to vote”, only 56 per cent feel that way now.

And the number who say it’s not really worth voting has more than doubled from eight per cent in the early 1990s to 18 per cent in the latest findings.

The drop in electoral enthusiasm is particularly noticeable among the young – only 41 per cent of under 35s feel they have a duty to vote.

Sarah Butt, co-author of the NatCen report, says: “Young people have always been less civically minded than their elders. However, young people today are markedly less likely to feel a sense of civic duty compared with people of the same age 20 years ago.”

Over the full age spectrum, one in three Britons professes to have little or no interest in politics – a proportion which has remained relatively static over the years.

But whereas more than half of those people would have voted regardless in 1991, only 34 per cent are likely to do so at the forthcoming election.

via charter2010.co.uk

Was there ever a clearer indication of the need to break the corruption of the Tory-Labour-Tory-Labour FPTP stitch-up.

The only thing to do is vote tactically to prevent a Tory overall majority.

“Charter 2010 is dedicated to seeing a hung parliament transformed into a stable and representative government which can focus on dealing with the economic crisis, the public services and the environment, undistracted by the short-term political and electoral pressures of an impending second election. Charter 2010’s Two Principles set out how we believe politicians should act in the special circumstances of the 2010 General Election."

#1 Straightness with the voters
Candidates and leaders should tell the voters, in advance of the election, how they would handle a hung parliament.

#2 Commitment to stable and representative government
Candidates and leaders should declare that they are committed to see that a stable and representative government emerges from a hung parliament.

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