Britain’s democratic deficit is a fact of life – that much is not up for debate if facts mean anything. That democracy deficit is mainly caused by the failings of the constitution and the gaps within it to keep up with the modern world. But there is another problem – the chains that tie these systems to the past. And then, there was a demographic certainty that was always going to creep up and create a new democratic deficit – the elderly. In one real-time 44-day drama, we saw an ageing Tory party membership vote for the wrong PM, who caused a political implosion that quickly turned into an economic crisis. They voted for someone who cynically styled herself as an iteration of Thatcher, the heyday of this cohort’s last big political victory.
This article is not looking to blame anyone personally – but more to help instigate a debate about a serious problem we simply cannot continue to look away from.
Once retired, people rarely take into consideration the impact of interest rates, inflation (unless it exceeds the usual 5 per cent limits to their pensions) or indeed, as we have seen, international relations that are so important in the 21st century. And that is where the crux of the matter lies. The 21st century – the modern world.
Statistics are important here. There are 11.9 million people over the age of 65 in the UK (nearly 18 per cent of the total population). One-third have never used the internet. By the age of 75, over 60 per cent are not using the internet. Just over 23 per cent of the population is already over the age of 60 with 3.2 million people aged 80 or over, and almost 600,000 of these are aged 90 or over.
The largest increases in population growth in the UK are the older age groups; by 2041 it is expected that there will be over 3 million people aged 85 or over – more than double the number that there are today.
Generational self-interest is now evidently on display as new research revealed that 18-year-olds in the 2010 General Election exercised markedly less actual voting power than generations in retirement. By 2016, younger age groups were completely outgunned when it came to Brexit for instance.
More than 60 per cent of the over 65s voted for Britain to leave the EU, whereas nearly 75 per cent of 18-24-year-olds voted to remain. This statistic alone says something about the direction of travel.
The same research also found that by 2031 there will be 1.25 million voters aged 90 years or over, more than any single-year age cohort. And by 2041 there will be fewer actual voters aged 18 than any age group until 84 years of age and fewer actual voters aged 24 than any age until 82 years old.
This is a recipe for political and economic disaster – and we are already experiencing its effects right now.
If you are a reader aged over 55, do not dismiss the under 25s. When you were this age, you took no notice of politics or economics. That really only happens when most people get a partner, mortgage and or children and a career becomes all-important to household income. Life becomes more serious and you start to take notice, usually when in your 30s.
According to the British Election Study (2019) – Just over 50 per cent of the 25-34 age group voted compared to over 80 per cent of the over 65s (83 per cent of the over 75s vote).
These statistics about our ageing demographic is important. A stark warning was issued by the Intergenerational Foundation. In its latest report, it calculates the political power of voters at different life stages, now and in the future, and suggests that large cohorts of older voters are creating what we are seeing already – a new form of “democratic deficit” in the UK.
Dr Craig Berry who wrote that report states, “Urgent action is needed to address this democratic deficit. The UK is at risk of becoming a gerontocracy, run by older generations for older generations, leaving younger people increasingly locked out of the democratic process.”
The report used original research to reveal how “too many older voters and too few younger voters are turning the traditional pattern of pyramid-shaped age distribution on its head and putting the democratic representation of younger people at risk.”
This effect also mounts up through the age groups. By 2021, the over-50s were able to exercise 97% more voting power than 18-year-olds.
Today, the average median voter is already aged 52. Younger voters are far more transient than older voters as they seek work and careers to settle into, meaning they tend to be far less likely to be registered to vote. In local elections, the over-65s exercised 7 times the voting power of their younger counterparts.
It is not that the youth are disinterested in politics. 63% of 18-year-olds say they are interested in politics but mistrust of politicians and cynicism, along with a sense of powerlessness has skewed their perspectives on politics. And because of a few environmental activists – many of the younger generations have been mislabelled by their older counterparts.
So there are some of the facts about age and voting. Now to the question. Britain has to face up to the fact it is not a great power anymore. It has no technical edge over all others. The average age of the world population is 30. In Africa, it is 20, in India 28 and in China 38 – collectively well over 50 per cent of the world population.
To compete, Britain needs to be forward-thinking, vibrant, innovative and productive.
Our voting system saw the over 65s overwhelm the Brexit referendum with their outdated worldview and throw us out of the largest trading bloc in the world. But Britain has no comprehensive trade agreement with the USA or China – the two largest trading nations in the world.
Britain also happens to be absent (for all sorts of reasons, not least geographical) from all the other major trading blocs – ASEAN, APEC, BRICS, NAFTA, CIS, COMESA, SAARC and MERCOSUR. Leaving the EU, from an economic point of view, was not a good idea at all if there was nothing to replace it.
If the under 18s are not allowed to vote because they don’t have enough experience to make a judgement on what is best for the country – why are the over 80s, many of whom don’t even possess a modern phone, can’t sit in judgement in court cases or drive a car allowed to?
The average age of a Conservative Party member is 55 years of age, who have, without doubt, collectively made disastrous decisions. On balance, they voted for Brexit more than any other cohort and for three successive Prime Ministers who failed – the last one catastrophically so.
Even for the Labour Party, the average membership age is 47.4 years, and for LibDem, it is 48.5 years.
One answer may be to lower the voting age or to enforce voting on everyone over the age of 18 as they do in Belgium, Luxembourg and Australia.
Angus Hanton, Intergenerational Foundation Co-founder, thinks, “The voting age must be lowered to 16 to prevent our national politics from becoming overwhelmed by this democratic deficit.”
I do not know what the answer is but one thing is for sure, allowing this democratic deficit to continue is not good for our country or democracy in general. Ask yourself this question. Would you allow your 80-year-old parent to make your career choices, choose your next car, house, romantic partner or clothes? No, I wouldn’t either. Then why would we ask them to choose the future direction of a country in the age of the fourth industrial revolution – a widely used term today that they cannot even describe?