Thinking Aloud: Britain's Democratic Deficit

Our elections are Free but not Fair - and what we can do about it

FIXING BRITAIN: Why British Democracy Is Failing Us All - And How To Fix It

 At the last election, it took 824,000 votes to elect one MP for Reform UK, but just 24,000 votes for each Labour MP. Most voters didn’t get the representative they chose, and many were ignored entirely. What kind of democracy does that represent? The answer is clear: a broken one.

British democracy has long operated on an unwritten civic contract. Citizens vote, politicians govern, and the system delivers fair representation for all. In return, people trust the process, even when they lose. But that trust – once the foundation of our political stability – has been eroded to its lowest point in history. A broken voting system, unchecked dark money, and rampant disinformation have shattered the terms of that contract.

But these failures are not inevitable or irreversible. With a determined approach to reform, we can restore a democracy that works for everyone. And a new cross-party group of over 100 MPs – the All-Party Group for Fair Elections – is pushing for exactly that. Before talking about possible remedies, it’s worth reminding ourselves of the uncomfortable truth of how we got here.

A Voting System That Silences Millions

The UK’s First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system is one of the least representative in the democratic world. At its worst, it silences entire communities, distorting election results to the point of absurdity. Consider this: in 2024, Labour secured a landslide majority with just 34% of the vote.

This isn’t just unfair – it’s dangerous. When millions feel their votes don’t count, why bother voting at all? Turnout amongst eligible voters in the last election dropped to 53%, the lowest in modern history. If more than 40% of schoolchildren did not turn up for lessons, it would be a national scandal. But more than 40% of eligible voters not voting is simply now taken as normal, even though if Apathy were a political party, Apathy would be running the British government.

Meanwhile, tactical voting has become the norm, forcing people to choose the least-bad option instead of the candidate they actually support. This is not democracy; it’s a sham. This goes beyond the ballot box. FPTP incentivises political parties to focus on a handful of swing seats, ignoring most of the country. It rewards divisive campaigning and punishes collaboration. And it risks handing unchecked power to governments elected by a minority, deepening the public’s disillusionment. The solution is clear: replace FPTP with a proportional system that ensures every vote counts equally. As a first step, the new APPG is calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform to recommend a fair and democratic voting system. Across the world, democracies with proportional representation  enjoy higher turnout, broader participation, and greater public trust. Britain deserves no less.

Democracy for Sale

The second failure is less visible but just as corrosive: the growing influence of dark money and hidden lobbying. Today, only 13% of Britons believe political funding is sufficiently transparent. They’re right to be sceptical.

Loopholes in the UK’s campaign finance laws allow unaccountable money to flow into politics. Unincorporated associations, shell companies, and proxy donors can funnel millions into election campaigns without scrutiny. Meanwhile, a weakened Electoral Commission lacks the power to enforce the rules. The result? Democracy is up for grabs, with the wealthiest voices drowning out the rest. This isn’t just a theoretical concern. Recent elections have seen anonymous funds influencing party strategies, policy platforms, and even legislative decisions. Ordinary voters are left wondering: who are my representatives really working for?

Closing these loopholes isn’t complicated. Strengthening the Electoral Commission’s independence and restoring its prosecutorial powers would send a clear signal that Britain is serious about protecting its democracy. Transparency isn’t just a technical fix – it’s a moral imperative.

Disinformation and the Death of Truth

The third pillar of the broken contract is disinformation. From distorted headlines in legacy media to algorithm-driven echo chambers online, the information environment is collapsing under the weight of falsehoods.

The rise of social media platforms has supercharged this problem. Divisive and misleading content thrives because it generates clicks and profits. Algorithms prioritise sensationalism over truth, creating a fertile ground for conspiracy theories and polarisation. Meanwhile, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) allow harmful content to proliferate with impunity.

Disinformation isn’t just an annoyance; it’s a direct attack on democracy. It distorts public debate, undermines trust in institutions, and makes it nearly impossible for voters to make informed decisions. Yet the UK lags behind other democracies in tackling this crisis. Brazil, the European Union, and even the United States have introduced stronger regulations to combat harmful content. Britain must do the same. The APPG for Fair Elections has proposed a straightforward solution: amend the Online Safety Act to require platforms to publish transparency reports on “legal but harmful” content. Voters have a right to know how their information environment is being shaped – and by whom. We’re not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.

Repairing the Civic Contract

None of these problems exists in isolation. FPTP, dark money, and disinformation are interconnected, reinforcing each other to the detriment of British democracy. Together, they explain why trust in politics has collapsed, with fewer than one in three Britons believing the system works.

But this crisis is also an opportunity. The APPG’s “Free But Not Fair” report outlines three practical steps to begin repairing the civic contract. Establishing a National Commission for Electoral Reform to recommend a fairer voting system, closing campaign finance loopholes and restoring the Electoral Commission’s independence, and demanding transparency from social media platforms in handling harmful content are not radical ideas. They’re simple, tangible reforms that would restore fairness and rebuild trust. The question is whether we – as voters, citizens, and participants in democracy – are ready to demand them. Britain once led the world in democratic innovation. The time has come to lead again.

(An earlier version of this article appeared in Byline Times. If you want independent, rigorous journalism in a new type of newspaper not produced by the established media - you can get a year of excellent reporting starting from £39.95 bylinetimes.com)