Andrew Vine: Too much politics? So why is there apathy in the UK?

There's no excuse for apathy over the general election, says Andrew Vine.There's no excuse for apathy over the general election, says Andrew Vine.
There's no excuse for apathy over the general election, says Andrew Vine.
ONE of the defining images of the 2017 general election came in the hours after its announcement, courtesy of one Brenda from Bristol.

She was the smartly-dressed elderly lady vox-popped in the street by the BBC who rolled her eyes at being told that Theresa May had decided to call an election.

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“You’re joking,” she exclaimed. “Not another one. Oh, for God’s sake. Honestly, I can’t stand this. There is too much politics going on at the moment. Why does she need to do it?”

The clip of her has already been endlessly repeated, and Brenda – doubtless to her astonishment – has become a YouTube favourite, because her outburst is richly, if unintentionally, comic.

I have a hunch that for all her frustration at too much politics, Brenda will turn out to her local polling station on June 8 and vote as she is part of an older generation who hold sacred the right to have their say.

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If only the same could be said for many others, like the apathetic hordes who failed to vote in last year’s Brexit referendum and then went online to sign pointless petitions when they didn’t like the result, bleating “Not in my name”, the whiny, self-regarding slogan of modern protest.

That’s democracy, folks, a decision made fair and square. If you don’t wish to be bothered sparing a few minutes to turn up and put an X on a ballot paper, well, there are plenty of countries to consider as a new home where you won’t be troubled by the opportunity to express an opinion and even make a difference.

North Korea, for example, where I hear the weather is lovely in June, or Syria, both of which might be vaguely on the radar of even those who take no interest in current affairs.

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I’ve already heard some Brendas – both male and female – complaining about the election in that wearingly dense way that runs along entirely predictable lines.

All politicians are the same. It doesn’t matter who you vote for. It won’t make any difference, whoever gets in. There’s no point bothering.

Sound familiar? They should, because these tired and inaccurate generalities have become ingrained in an awful lot of people to whom the right – and yes, the privilege – to vote in a free and fair election means little or nothing.

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The turnouts for the last few polls of Brenda’s age of “too much politics” tell the story. In the referendum, it was 70 per cent, and in the 2015 election 66.1 per cent, up on the 2010 figure of 65.1 per cent.

That means of the 45.7 million adults registered to vote, more than 13 million simply didn’t bother having their say on whether to stay in or leave the EU, and an even higher number failed to express an interest on the last two occasions Britain elected a government.

If the scale of voter apathy in the face of major decisions on the country’s direction and future is worrying, then turnout for next week’s council elections is likely to be of even greater concern.

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The number of people who bother to vote often struggles to break the 40 per cent mark, and there is a real danger that even fewer will take the trouble this year, seeing the poll as little more than a sideshow when the main event happens on June 8.

Such an attitude is deplorable at a time when councils are struggling with the twin problems of shrinking budgets and greater demands on their services.

This year, my council tax bill includes a precept to fund adult social care. It is a modest charge which I am happy to pay, since looking after the vulnerable and elderly is the mark of a civilised society, but the fact that it is there at all underlines the importance of the role of local authorities.

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Yet their work is likely to be ignored by a majority of voters on May 4, who will nevertheless grumble about their council not doing this or that in the months that follow, whether it be emptying the bins on time or clearing up fly-tipping.

Whatever the political argy-bargy of the coming weeks – and the yah-boo of Prime Minister’s Questions can turn many off the debate – the competing parties need to agree to speak with a single voice on one issue.

That is the need to get voters out and engaging with the process, whether it be in the council polls or the General Election.

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We are not suffering from too much politics, as Brenda has it, but too little, at least on the part of millions who see no purpose in voting, even when it came to a referendum which marked a turning point in Britain’s history.

It is absurd for anybody to consider that voting is a waste of time. But getting that across to vast numbers of people is a task hardly less hard than winning an election.