Democracy and Participation Evidence

How many people couldn’t vote in Athens

3/5ths

2024 Turnout (+in relation to 2001)

59.7% only 0.3% higher than 2001

Turnout in 1945-92

Consistently above 75%

Turnout of INDYREF

84.6% which is higher than any election or referendum since 1910

what survey found how many felt the political system was rigged to benefit who?

2019 survey found 63% felt that the political system was rigged to benefit the elite

What are examples of Truss’ policies that benefit the elite

Tax cuts and Bankers bonus

What was the result of the Brexit Referendum

48% - 52%

How many people disapprove of the govt

November 2025, 69% disapproved

What was Labour’s vote share and seat share (also out of eligible voters)

33.7% vote share which was only 20% of those eligible and got 63% of seats

Brexit turnout

72%

How many strongly identify with a party?

10% compared to 40 (strongly)/60 (just identify) in 1960

Conservatives membership over time

in 1950, conservatives had 3m members where as now they have 120,000

Green Membership

Greens passed 200,000 in march 2026 and are the 3rd largest political party

How many members does amnesty international have

200,000 in UK

What did the remain in UK and revoke article 50 petition do

triggered debate in parliament

How used is social media

its the 2nd most common news source

How many UK users does Tik Tok have

24m

What petitions were ignored

EU & call for second general election

What was Reform’s vote to seat share

14-1%

How much of the time is the NI assembly suspended

1/3

Electoral commission found that ____ believed those elected don’t care about them

54%

How many signatures did the removal of the compulsory ID scheme petition get?

3M → compulsary aspect was removed

What was the Av referendum turnout

42.2%

Turnout for the last London mayoral election

40%

what cities removed their mayoral position

Bristol and Liverpool

What did David Cameron do that increased trust in policies

2014 Transparency act

David Cameron’s example of corrupt lobbying

In 2021 Cameron and Green sill attempted to persuade govt ministers to join the Corporate Covid financing facility and it wasn’t considered a breach of the 2014 transparancy act as he was employed by the company

How much of lobbying still goes unreported

85%

What did the Centre for social justice think tank do?

produced well published reports that helped to develop the 2012 universal credit and Modern slavery act

What did the National institute of economic and social research do

criticized the conservative govts budget on liability of growth targets → displayed a range of ideas to public

What was wrong with the Taxpayers allegiance and Migration Watch Thinktanks?

open democracy could not identify a published annual income figure

What is wrong with the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank?

It has 2 conservative peers on its advisory council and its chair is a Tory Donor

What Did the corporation Nissan do?

in 2016, it wrote a concern of competition on the global scale after Brexit, may gave it a written guarantee of support

Govt meetings with large corporations compared to smaller businesses

Cons govt met with BP 7x & HSBC 8x even though smaller businesses account for 99.9% of the UK private sector and 60% of private sector employment

What corporation shows corporations are not interested in the benefits of people

2022 Kellogg’s on Sugar → not considering public health concerns

what pressure group used a media catching outsider method?

Just stop oil in 2022, threw soup at van gogh sunflower

What major for of Protesting did Extinction Rebellion do?

In 2018, it shut down 5 major bridges

What autism pressure group got the support of MPs?

National Autistic society won MP’s support, allowing for the creation of the 2009 autism act

What Did the Runnymead Trust do?

Gave evidence to committees in 2020 over racist and classist bias in Covid 19 Grades

Who donated how much to Extinction rebellion?

One of Britain’s Wealthiest Men, Christopher Hodge donated £50,000

What doctors striked when?

Junior doctors striked for 5 days in 2025

What leg did the govt go to the NSPCC for advice on?

leg on child safe e.g. 2017 flaw in the law campaign made s*xual communication with a child illegal

What did what footballer do?

Marcus Rashford fought for Free school meals, seeing them extended over summer holidays

What charity represents fish?

Wild fish charity, called for the sewage pollution investigation in 2022

Australia’s voting enrolment and turnout after made compulsory?

95% enrolled and turnout is 94-5%

What was the turnout of 16-17y/os in the INDYREF

75%

How many non voters would be more likely to vote if what was introduced?

2/3rds of non voters would be more likely to vote if an online option was introduced

What does the online voting system in Georgia, US use?

windows 2000

What was found in Brazil’s online voting system?

A hole in the code was found

Who, where undermined election results?

Trump, after loosing in 2021, claimed the election results were manipulated, influenced the storming of the capital

When did women over 30 get the vote?

1918

Since when has there been universal suffrage for everyone?

1969

When were 16&17y/os given the vote?

Scotland 2014 and Welsh Senned election in 2020

What happened to the age of marriage?

raised from 16-18

What Autism campaign meant that MPs backed who’s autism act?

National Autistic society’s ‘I exist’ campaign got MPs to back Cheryl Gillian’s Autism Act

How much Did what trade Union donate to Labour in the lead up to the election?

Unison donated £1.5M

What outsider pressure group uses methods of disruption, an example?

Just Stop Oil, i.e throwing soup over a Van Gogh Painting

What trade Union cut labour funding by doing what?

Unite cut labour funding by reducing its affiliation fee by 40%

What think tank gave evidence towards covid grade bias?

Runnymeade Trust

What think tank’s research led to Blair doing what?

Fabian Society’s research led to Blair making the Bank of England Independent

What think tank is much less influential under Labour

the Institute for Economic Affairs

How many times is the average MP contacted by a lobbyist in what time frame?

100x a week

How many lobbyists are from what companies?

8/10 lobbyists are from FTSE’s 100 companies

What was Truss’s govt thought of as?

the Think tank government

Even after what act, what percentage of lobbyists are on a register?

Even after the 2014 lobbying act, only 4% of lobbyists are estimated to be on a register

What politician managed to bypass the lobbying act/ used connections to their advantage?

Cameron when lobbying for Green sill in 2021

Who made a lobbying speech, directed at who?

Zarah Sultana, aimed at Google

What was the turnout of the 2025 county council elections

35%

How much of employment is the private sector responsible for

80%

What did the labour govt do in relation to cars and corperations.

2025, the govt considered buying JIR car parts as they were responsible for the employment of 130,000

What big corperations pressured the govt in their own interests

In the 2022-24 energy crisis, the govt considered introducing a windfall tax but BP and Shell argued it would discourage investment so the govt made it temporary and included significant investment allowances

after the 2024 election, it was found that how much was spent on gifts?

£700,000 on gifts and hospitality

Who worked closley with the labour govt on the new deal for working people

GMB trade union worked closley with the govt to produce the biggest upgrade to workers rights in 50 years

What was the BLM campaign when

2022, no room for racism campaign highlighted racial discrimination and bias in the premier league

What pressure group represents large businesses

The confederation of british industry is frequently consulted by the govt on economic policy

An example of positive lobbying

The National farmers union in 2022 successfully lobbied for small woodlands to be made ecological focus areas in Scotland

What was the name and year of the tobacco lobbying affair

1997 Ecclestone affair