The Liberal Democrats were criticised most for misleading bar charts and sometimes manifestly false claims about their own electoral prospects. So were Labour’s claims that 95% of people would pay no extra tax under its plans and that the average family would save over £6,000. Boris Johnson’s core promise to ‘get Brexit done’ by 31 January 2020 was well known to be a gross simplification, while Conservative promises on new hospitals and extra nurses were found wanting. Misinformation was rampant throughout the campaign, from all sides. It will take considerable time for detailed analysis of all this material to be completed. Local parties and other campaign groups also weighed in strongly. Each party posted thousands of separate ads, often targeted at very small numbers of voters. According to Facebook ’s data, the three main parties’ central organisations alone spent £3.5 million on advertising on the site in the 12 months preceding the election, the great bulk of it coming during the campaign period. The shift to online campaigning continued apace. Finally, it considers the prospects for serious reform. It begins by briefly reviewing problems during the 2019 election before focusing on four possible solutions. Campaigning has been transformed by the digital communications revolution, but the rules have utterly failed to catch up. Others get to the heart of the kind of democracy we want to live in. Some are drily technical: our complex and often opaque election rules badly need basic consolidation, simplification, and clarification. Michela Palese and I also argued the case in a report earlier this year. This has been the unanimous conclusion of a slew of recent reports from respected organisations – including the Electoral Commission, Association of Electoral Administrators, and the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs committees in the House of Commons. Given the prevailing political environment, he concludes, a concerted effort from parliamentarians, broadcasters, and others will be needed to carry the case for positive reforms forward.Įlectoral law in the UK urgently requires reform. In this post Alan Renwick identifies key problems and assesses four possible solutions. The election campaign that concluded last week was often a depressing sight for democrats, with rampant misinformation and occasional threats against institutions that try to foster better debate.
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