The UK is facing a crisis of democracy. Many are disillusioned with the government and political parties. Here we propose some ways to restore democratic spirit to our country in the 21st century.
Reform the system
- Changing the voting system, encouraging real competition between political parties, so that votes count in elections
- Potentially introducing compulsory voting with a minimal fine for abstention in an age of declining turnout, increasing representation in under-represented socio-economic groups and reducing political corruption
- Introducing processes to ensure a larger measure of formal policy deliberation outside the executive, improving pre-legislative scrutiny in parliament and a formal public consultation of organised interests and expert individuals
Local Power
- Allocating the power to take political decisions to the democratic level closest to where they will have their effect.
- This will require devolution of power from central government in the UK, to regions, cities and local councils, and with this devolution must also come the ability to raise more local taxes for local expenditure
Transparency
- Creating new national standards for candidates across all parties, so that the public understand the process and so rebuild trust in our representatives
- Introducing mandatory DBS checks for all candidates, so that transparency is part of the process
- Creating consumer protection for political adverts and marketing, extending advertising and marketing standards to the political sphere
- Improving the systems that monitor and audit government delivery of its policies
Our system of politics rewards adversaries, not collaboration. These systems need radical reform to get the best, in candidates and in MPs. Whilst vigorous debate is critical to the evolution of our society, it does not need to become personal, crude and nasty. Renew wants to see systematic change, a positive disruption to our political structures. Reducing bloated democracy at the local, regional and national level. Distributing power so that individuals feel that their vote and the actions of their representatives are accountable. We must be changing the way it works so that our votes will count. It will make a difference. You will not be ignored again. Renew stands for systematic change in the UK’s democratic process. We support electoral reform to make representation in parliament proportional to the number of votes cast for each party. This means the abolition of the first-past-the-post voting system.
Renew believes that the UK’s political system must be changed in order to give the UK the best chance of having governments that choose the right policies to make the country better and that implement these policies in practice. We have clear plans around conduct, expectations, quality, updating the old parliamentary ways – the private members’ bills that can be stopped by the shouting of one word, irrespective of how well thought through the policy is, or indeed voting by proxy that is then reneged on. There is a need to change the system to level the pitch for everyone and encourage the dominant players to change the way they work.
Currently, the majority of the electorate can be, and is, for the most part, ignored. Many people do not vote because the government does not make much difference to their lives. Many votes do not make a difference given the first-past-the-post voting system in the UK. The result is that policies are poorly thought out, not benchmarked against what success should look like and not monitored once they are implemented.