Democracy in the United Kingdom: year in review

Elections are often considered the key indicator of the health of democracy. From this point of view, the British general election in July 2024 can be considered reassuring. The first-past-the-post system used in elections to the House of Commons, although producing a controversial and disproportionate resultalso took advantage of one of its so-called key assets: being a way to dismiss a government or “throw out the rascals”. All parties, winners and losers alike, considered the results legitimate. Yet democracy is also about what happens between elections, in politics and in society: what those in government office do, how they are held accountable on behalf of all of us, and how we behave toward each other. others and deal with disagreements.

So, what have we learned about ongoing democracy in 2024? The year highlighted three types of vulnerabilities. First, on a societal level, the summer's far-right anti-immigration riots showed that threats to democracy can emerge quickly and unexpectedly. These riots threatened the rights of particular groups in society – migrants and asylum seekers –, exposed individual members of these groups to violence and rejected democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences of opinion. Although only a small portion of the population was actively involved, there was wider (but minority) support for the associated protests of August 2024, but less for the riots themselves.

Riots and wider trends of intolerance towards migrants and asylum seekers have been encouraged and encouraged. may have been partly caused by misinformation spread via social media. These communication technologies are facing Janus. They can improve the quality of life of their users, in particular by facilitating more active political participation. But they can also put pressure on the conduct of free and fair electionsand democracy in general, both because of the way in which operation of algorithms and risk of foreign interference that they offer. All this is in addition to domestic and foreign political donations and influence they can exert on democratic processes.

Secondly, at the political level, the non-respect of certain democratic norms, a feature of Boris Johnson's administration in particular, persisted under the government of Rishi Sunak during the first half of 2024. Shortcomings included the enactment of unreliable information about government policyas well as the death of Rwanda Security (Asylum and Immigration) Act, 2024 in April, which was partly motivated by the societal views mentioned above, and raised serious questions on respect for human rights, constitutionality and respect for international law.

Despite its promises to restore public confidence and the spirit of public service, the new Labor government quickly found itself embroiled in 'giftgate', which may not have been a breach of the rules, but did contravene both societal norms and the rules that many of us owe respect in our own workplaces; extremely problematic for a new government which is committed to move away from the “one rule for them, one rule for us” approach of the Johnson era.

The year has been less reassuring from a democratic point of view than the elections suggest. The UK is not alone in all this – and populism in particular puts pressure on democracy around the world. In July, three members of Labor's new cabinet expressed concern that if they failed to deliver on their promises, voters would are increasingly turning towards such options. Politicians enjoy lower levels of public trust than members of any other profession (including bankers, journalists, landlords, real estate agents and advertisers!) and a significant proportion of the public the fear that mob rule will replace democratic rule.

Yet there is some light in the darkness. Upon taking office, the government quickly abandoned the policy of expulsion of refugees to Rwanda that the Security of Rwanda The law was intended to facilitate. The August riots gave rise to anti-racist counter-demonstrations in different cities and rapid political and legal action. In September, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a set of answersincluding stricter requirements for social media companies to take responsibility for the content on their platforms. Furthermore, after a difficult start, the new government has taken various measures to strengthen democratic processes. The edition of Ministerial code published in November tightened some of the rules regarding ministerial conduct and improved the mechanisms for enforcing these rules. Labor also commits to new regulations regarding donations to political partiesand a proposed “Hillsborough law” introducing a duty of candor for civil servants, confirmed in the king's speech.

The future is uncertain and the challenges are considerable. But there are signs that 2025 could be a better year for democracy in the UK.

Find out more at the Center for British Democracy.