Written Evidence for the Modernising Elections Inquiry
A response from Green House Think Tank to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s call for evidence
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Green House will publish evidence submitted here once it has been approved and published by the Inquiry.
The Modernising Elections Inquiry aimed to explore the state of electoral democracy in the UK and support the scrutiny of the government’s Representation of the People Bill.
Green House responded to the call for evidence, outlining how the bill could be enhanced to more effectively strengthen and protect British democracy.
Inquiry Terms of Reference
Foreign political donations
- What is the current scope of and level of concern about foreign influence on UK elections?
- Are the Government’s proposed reforms likely to close existing loopholes in the rules governing foreign political donations?
- Are there any additional reforms to the rules around political donations that could further strengthen democracy?
Democratic engagement
- What is the current state of electoral democracy in the UK today?
- What are the key challenges facing the administration of the electoral system and what should be done to address these?
- How effective is the Government’s proposal to lower the voting age likely to be at increasing electoral engagement?
- How well placed are young people to participate in UK elections and what could the Government do to improve this?
- What else should be done to increase electoral engagement?
- What impact has delays to planned local elections had on public trust in and attitudes towards democracy?
Modernisation of elections
- What role has online mis- and disinformation played in recent elections in the UK? How can we effectively monitor its impact?
- To what extent have social media algorithms amplified and promoted misleading content about UK elections?
- How effective is the existing regulatory framework at tackling this and how could it be improved?
- Is the current system of electoral registration fit for purpose in the modern era?
- Is the Government’s proposal to run pilots of AVR for the next general election the most effective way of moving toward an automated system of voter registration?
- What are the potential democratic risks associated with rolling it out in this way?
- Which international comparators have high levels of electoral registration, engagement and security? Which countries have taken effective steps to ban foreign donations?
- What other changes to the UK’s body of electoral law would you like to see?
Related Work:
Evidence to the Parliamentary Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform
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A Green Vision for English Devolution
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Guardians of the Future: A Constitutional Case for representing and protecting Future People
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Strangled by the Duopoly
John Hare and Rupert Read’s new report argues that any discussion of party funding that does not examine the wider crisis of UK democracy – including questions of electoral system, participation-rates and corporate power – is an exercise in deckchair-rearrangement.
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