Low turnout 'a threat to legitimacy of elections'

UK elections are "close to a tipping point" at which they lose legitimacy because of plummeting voter turnout among renters and non-graduates, an influential thinktank has said.

- Eleni Courea

Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the gap in turnout between those with and without university degrees grew to 11 percentage points in the 2024 general election, double that of 2019.

The turnout gap between homeowners and renters grew by nearly a quarter, to 19 percentage points, between the 2017 and 2024 elections.

The findings suggest a growing disillusionment with politics among certain social groups, which is leading to increasingly unequal elections.

Parth Patel, the associate director of democracy and politics at the IPPR, said: "We are close to the tipping point at which elections begin to lose legitimacy because the majority do not take part. That should be ringing more alarm bells than it is."

Turnout inequality in 2024 was 11 percentage points between top- and bottom-third earners and people in working-class and middle-class jobs, and has remained largely unchanged since 2015.

The turnout gap between 18-to 24-year-olds and over-60s was 21 percentage points, and has also remained stable, according to the analysis.

The data is likely to provoke concern among Labour strategists.

Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer's chief of staff and most influential adviser, built his 2024 election strategy around winning over those without university degrees.