Reality Politics

Elections have essentially been the same for years, much like the rest of politics in the UK, a system that people have been screaming out to review and modernise. The UK has the Mother Of All Parliaments, and does it ever show. The poor old girl is on her last legs, confused, living in a big old house, being ripped off by her children, ignored and disrespected by the young, unable to understand how things work these days and preferring to stick with what she knows thank you.

Come election time, political parties get their broadcast, they leaflet, they appear on the news. Modernisers like David Cameron spontaneously roll up their sleeves and spontaneously speak to a spontaneously-gathered set of camera crews and journalists, Gordon Brown makes an arse of himself on YouTube, and that’s about as exciting as it gets. People trudge with their voting slips to their church halls and stand in a booth to mark an X with a pencil, if they’re around and the dog didn’t puke on the carpet. If they bother. Then, halls are filled with people who sit and count votes by hand. Finally, the count is announced. The candidates stand on the stage like competitors in the cheapest reality show ever, and the occasional shout issues forth from the crowd as a set of numbers is read out like John McCririck announcing the stakes on Channel 4 Racing.

The closest most people get to understanding what is happening is when a Dimbleby, a giant virtual reality display and Jeremy Vine are wheeled out to present the unfolding situation. Even then, an inordinate amount of time is spent discussing the machinations of party politics, rather than any analysis of the likely consequences of elections for voters. Just this evening, Michael Meacher appeared on BBC News trotting out the same line about the importance of policy over personalities, which is what politicians say when they know their personalities are landing them in it and no-one’s paying any attention to their policies.

People vote about MPs expenses when they should be voting about Europe. They vote against a party that has screwed with their income tax when they should be voting for a local councillor. They vote for loony fringe parties and fascists because they’re making some kind of protest, they genuinely feel they have no alternative, or they really are loonies or racists. It’s a hopelessly haphazard process, and the blame for apathy, misinformation, spin and misused votes is shared by the political parties, the media and the public.

Elections in our country determine who will be in charge, who will be making decisions that affect our lives. And yet, as many people are likely to discuss two individuals in the final of a reality TV show as they are opinions on European integration, are likely to be better informed about the people they are voting for, and are just as, if not more likely to pick up a phone and vote for a contestant in a reality TV show than they are to go out and vote for a politician:

• UK voter turnout in the 2009 European Elections was 14,032,420 excluding Northern Ireland -- around 35%.
• 19.2 million people watched the final of Britain’s Got Talent.

I attended a talk on democracy given by Peter Tatchell and gave this suggestion on how to improve voter engagement -- he gave me a look like he wasn’t sure if I was being completely serious, but the more I think about it, the more I am:

We run elections like a reality TV show.

• Cameras follow candidates and parties when they’re prepared, and when they’re not. Behind-the-scenes footage gives an honest account of candidates, staff, and parties. This is complimented by detailed pre-compiled biographical pieces and party backgrounds.
• All parties have the same access to the same screen time, the same production resources. Funding for this campaigning channel, possibly all channels, is rendered moot, and parties are judged on policy, not presentation.
• Televised debates give candidates a fair and equal platform, public participation is encouraged, no questions are off-limits, the discussion ranges across and between town meetings, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and newspapers.
• Candidates are interviewed. You want the job, you pass the interview.
• A weekly ‘event’ show presents a predetermined topic for discussion, not unlike a US presidential election debate.
• Independent adjudicators ensure the fairness of coverage and arbitrate in disputes.
• National and local coverage work together to ensure a focus on local politicians and local issues, balanced with national issues.
• Voting is done by walk-in poll and phone, by whatever means is verifiable and gets the vote out.

There are a lot more ideas, feel free to add your own. And if this sounds stupid, well, just look at how many people turned out to vote in the European Elections. Look at how the leader of the BNP and the former leader of the National Front have just been elected to the European Parliament. Look at what everyone was voting about in this election. Then tell me what we have at the moment isn’t failing miserably.