What Do The Public Make Of Local Elections?

MORI's research for the Electoral Commission is published this week

The survey is wide-ranging and covers public interest in politics, news about elections, local and national issues, attitudes to public attitudes towards electoral arrangements in the UK, issues around electoral registration and a discussion of public attitudes towards state funding of political parties.

Key highlights from the survey are:

• Six in 10 people found the campaign "boring".
• This is not necessarily the result of a lack of interest in politics per se. The level of interest in politics among the public has increased over the year from 52% to 58%, close to its historic norm, though this could in part be caused by the recent debate about the war with Iraq. Most people say they are interested in politics, news about elections, and local and national issues. However, interest in politics is at its lowest among young people: 52% of under 35s are not very interested in politics.
• Confidence in the process of casting the vote at polling stations is high, with a very high proportion of respondents rating the ease of use and level of privacy of polling stations as good, and feeling the system worked in keeping their vote safe from fraud and abuse.
• There is still significant under-representation of certain groups on the Electoral Register -- only eight in 10 young people, Black & Minority Ethic groups (BMEs), Londoners and private renters say they are registered. There is confusion about the current system of voter registration, with many (even among those who think they are informed) being unaware of "rolling registration", the Electoral Register "opt-out" and the need to re-register every year.
• Funding of political parties is not a top-of-mind issue for most people, and only a quarter (27%) feel well informed about it. Hence, attitudes towards state funding of political parties are confused and contradictory. The public is hostile to state support of political parties and think individuals should have the right to make voluntary donations. However, the public are also concerned about inequality in election spending between parties and undue influence being exerted by wealthy people or organisations. So, while 63% think that political parties should be funded totally or mainly through voluntary donations, 70% think there should be a limit to these donations.

• Attitudes towards Voting and the Political Process in 2003

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,500 UK (including Northern Ireland) adults aged 18+ by telephone. Interviews were carried out from 2 -- 11 May 2003. Data are weighted by gender, age, working status, social class, tenure and Government Office Region to the known population profile.

A digest of public attitudes towards local councils and local elections, linking this research and other MORI data, will be available on 17 September 2003. For a copy, please email Simon Atkinson