Events

We’ve had another fantastic year of events. We’ve been lucky enough to welcome a huge range of speakers from across (and outside) the political spectrum.

We heard from Peter Emerson all about the problems with binary decision making.

Former presenter of Newsnight Gavin Esler and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve came to our AGM to speak on the future of democracy in the UK.

Our Director of Campaigns and Digital joined forces with the Electoral Reform Society’s Director of Research and Policy to talk through some of the latest polling on democracy matters.

Professor AC Grayling came to share his ideas on what makes a Good State. The answer has to include a fairer voting system and a written constitution.

Winners of the Orwell Youth Prize shared their perspectives as young people navigating our broken politics. They also shared some of their brilliant creative writing.

Ian Dunt discussed his popular new book How Westminster Works…and Why It Doesn’t.

Prof Toby James helped us launch our new report UK Politics Under Strain, in which he documents and analyses all democratic backsliding in the UK since 2019.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey gave a speech setting out his vision for a better politics.

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, also came to speak to our supporters about the importance of democracy for a green future.

We’ve helped establish a London edition of Democracy Drinks - an international networking event for all in the democracy sector.

Research and Campaigning

Stop Voter ID

The start of 2023 saw us preparing for the first elections in Britain where voters would need to show photographic ID in order to vote.

Thousands of voters were at risk of losing their voice either because they didn’t know they would need ID, or didn’t have a form of ID that would be accepted at the polling station.

We lost no time in raising awareness of the new rules, as well as campaigning for this damaging legislation to be scrapped in the longer term.

We had great engagement with parliamentarians, both in and outside parliament. Concerned MPs from all over the UK came to speak to us when we set up our giant map of the UK in the heart of Westminster.

This campaign also received widespread backing from our supporters. Over 120,000 people signed the petitions calling on the Prime Minister to scrap the photo ID requirement at elections, which we delivered to Number 10 by hand.

Dozens of parliamentarians also came to our post-election briefing event in Portcullis House to learn more about the real-world impact of the new rules.

This was also a great chance for us to update our coalition partners on the campaign’s progress.

As predicted, the effects of photo ID on our democracy have so far been dire. The official report from the Electoral Commission shows that at least 14,000 people in England lost their vote in May. Just imagine how many people could be affected at a General Election, when turnout is higher and voting is happening in every constituency.

The Electoral Commission’s report also confirmed that Voter ID is discriminatory, with voters who are unemployed, disabled, or living in social housing among those who are the least likely to have the right ID to vote. Among non-voters, young people or those from ethnic minority backgrounds were also much more likely than average to cite voter ID as a reason for not voting.

This is why we are keeping up the pressure to get these unnecessary new rules scrapped, and keep elections as free and open as possible.

We’ve been working with Byline Times to support their excellent coverage of the issue. We have persuaded the Equality and Human Rights Commission to look into voter ID’s disproportionate impact on older voters, voters from ethnic minorities, transgender voters, and voters with disabilities.

As we head towards the next General Election, we will be keeping the pressure on to scrap voter ID before it blocks tens of thousands of people from exercising their democratic right.

Reforming Our Parliament

Both Houses of Parliament in Westminster are in dire need of reform. The society they were created to serve no longer exists, and their creaking infrastructure is not up to the challenges of the modern world.

In the fight to reform the House of Commons, we are working with a wide coalition of organisations to introduce a fair voting system.

We’re proud to work with Make Votes Matter, the Electoral Reform Society, Labour for a New Democracy, and Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform, Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform, and more on this issue.

This year, many of our members and supporters took part in Sort the System - the mass lobby of parliament for PR. We’ve also been mobilising our supporters in the Labour Party and in trade unions to help build support for electoral reform in the Labour party.

In the fight to reform the House of Lords, we’re raising awareness of the broken appointments system that has allowed two disgraced Prime Ministers to bring more of their friends and cronies into an overstuffed chamber. Over 26,000 people so far have signed our petition calling for an elected House of Lords.

Save the Human Rights Act

Dominic Raab’s plans to replace the Human Rights Act with his so-called Bill of Rights ended in failure this year. This is a huge victory for all the organisations which campaigned against it.

If passed, Raab’s Bill would have weakened everyone’s human rights, and left us all vulnerable.

We were proud to be part of the coalition that successfully opposed the Bill. Thank you to all our members and supporters who backed the campaign.

We need transparent think tanks

Did you know that Unlock Democracy has been given an A rating for transparency by Who Funds You?

Unfortunately, lots of highly influential think tanks which are known to have a close relationship with the government are rated E. That’s the worst possible rating. It means we have no way of knowing who is funding them, what their interests are, and why they are trying to influence government policy.

That’s why we are encouraging the Government to take action immediately to make think tanks more transparent.

We want the government to change the law to require think tanks to:

Reveal their sources of funding
Register as lobbyists if they receive more than a certain amount from a single source (we suggest £85,000) and promote to government Ministers or officials policy ideas beneficial to that source.

It was great to see some of our recommendations included in the Boardman Report’s recommendations for improving transparency in the relationship between government and the private sector.

The recommended new rules will make it easier for members of the public to get hold of information about meetings held between Ministers and lobbyists. That’s a big step in the right direction for transparency and accountability in government.

Overseas Constituencies

Although all UK citizens living abroad will soon be able to vote (currently only those who have lived abroad for up to 15 years can vote), they will find their voices muted by a weak system of representation in Westminster. They will be represented by the MP from their last place of residence in the UK (which they might have left over 30 or 40 years ago). The chances are that their MP will have had little experience of dealing with the issues citizens abroad regularly face. This means their issues are often not addressed, or only poorly addressed by their MP.

This is why we need change now.

With overseas constituencies (areas designated as a district for the representation of eligible voters residing temporarily or permanently abroad), we can ensure UK citizens living abroad are properly represented by MPs whose bread and butter is dealing with the challenges UK residents abroad face.

We’re working with New Europeans UK to press for the incorporation of Overseas Constituencies' MPs in the UK parliament.

Report: UK Democracy Under Strain

We’re committed to building cross-party consensus on the need to fix our politics. To help us build a compelling evidence base, we commissioned Professor Toby James of the University of East Anglia to produce a report which sounds the alarm about the sharp recent decline of UK democracy.

Focusing on the period from 2019, the report identifies a host of new challenges to the UK’s democratic resilience. Prof James cites a decline in the integrity of elections, brought on by the Elections Act of 2022, attacks on constitutional protections, parliament being side-lined when legislation is fast-tracked, and the dearth of democratic education in schools as key areas of concern.

He then goes on to draw on Unlock Democracy’s parent organisation, Charter 88's history, by producing a 10-point Charter to Renew Our Democracy. Recommendations include reforming the Westminster voting system, restoring the independence of the Electoral Commission, and devolving more power away from Westminster and into local communities.

This is an independent report commissioned by Unlock Democracy and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.

To read the full report and all 10 recommendations, go to www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/backsliding

Automatic Voter Registration

Did you know that around 8 million eligible voters in the UK are not registered to vote? The Electoral Commission’s analysis shows that registration rates are lower for young citizens, the less affluent, and minority ethnic groups.

For our democracy to be truly inclusive, bureaucratic barriers to entry must be removed. Registering to vote should be easier when a citizen reaches voting age or after people have moved.

We’ve commissioned a report that shows that Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) is both possible and desirable at our elections. This report will act as a rallying point for a broad coalition of organisations representing the groups most commonly locked out of our voting system. This coalition includes the Runnymede Trust, the National Union of Students, The Politics Project, British Youth Council, and Shout Out UK.

Thanks to our volunteers

Over the last year we’ve been joined by a number of hard working volunteers and work experience students.
They’ve been contributing to our research and policy development, as well as helping out with campaigning activity.

Our elected Council has also been meeting regularly to oversee Unlock Democracy’s work, and making sure the organisation works effectively. This year the Council has been particularly focused on work to make Unlock Democracy a more diverse and green organisation.

Unlock Democracy in the Media

This year we welcomed our new Media Manager, Stephen Gilmore, onto the team. That’s meant we’ve been able to increase our profile in both the national and local media.

This includes appearances on Good Morning Britain and the front page of The Guardian, a regular column on democracy issues in Left Foot Forward, and frequent mentions and quotes from Unlock Democracy in other major news outlets.

With the help of our supporters we also managed to get information about the introduction of photo voter ID into hundreds of local newspapers. That meant that people living in areas affected by the new rules were better informed about what they needed to do to protect their vote.

Finances Summary

We are enormously grateful to everyone who has contributed financially to Unlock Democracy.

Your membership fees and donations amount to £154,000 for the year from April 2022 to March 2023, and are key to keeping us running as an independent voice for democracy.

Unlock Democracy is also supported by income from our subsidiary property company, Rodell Properties. Rodell owns and manages two properties in Central London.

Trusts and Individual Donors

We are very grateful to the trusts and grant funders who provide support for specific projects. We’d particularly like to thank the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust for their generous support for our work.

Legacies

Sometimes our supporters choose to remember Unlock Democracy in their will. This is a particularly meaningful way to help in the fight for our democracy, and to protect it for future generations.

This year, we received a generous legacy donation which has boosted our campaigning on the drive for political parties to embrace democratic reforms in their manifestos.

Full Financial Report

The full, audited accounts for Unlock Democracy’s financial year 2022-2023 will be available in November 2023, in an independent report by our auditors.

Annual Report 2023

Table of Contents

Welcome to our 2023 annual report. Here you can read a full summary of everything we’ve been working on over the last 12 months.