UK Democracy Bulletin, October 2023

#Issue 55

A screenshot of Zac Down’s volunteer run Online Postal Vote site, soon to be retired

Monthly news, jobs, grants and gossip from across the democracy sector, brought to you by James Moulding and Max Roche of the UK Democracy Network. Read by 400+ democracy organisations. We read everyone’s newsletters & research so you don’t have to. If you want us to cover yours, let us know: hello@democracynetwork.org.uk

Editor’s note: We are making some changes to the Democracy Map, Jobs, Events and Funding Airtable lists over the next month, whilst those changes are underway, the jobs and events lists may appear out of date, apologies for the inconvenience.

Highlights

Welsh Government introduce new laws to reinvigorate Welsh democracy
By-elections set for October 19th in Tamworth and Mid-Beds
General Election councils reportedly put on alert for spring election
Fawcett Society efforts to improve gender equality making little progress, report says
Florence Eshalomi democracy orgs meet new Labour democracy spokesperson
People’s Powerhouse This is the North Conference heads to Preston this November

Thanks to our contributors

Thanks to everyone who joined us last week for our Democracy Check-In. We were joined by Myf Nixon — mySociety, Katy Rubin — Legislative Theatre, Artem Zhiganov — Harmonica, Carly Walker-Dawson — Involve, Mohammed Afridi — Civic Power Fund, Zsofia Banuta — Unhack Democracy, Tim Hughes — Open Government Partnership, Ruth Hannah — The People’s Powerhouse, Kathie Conn — Extinction Rebellion UK, Peter Keeling — Democracy Club, Joe Mitchell — Public Interest News Foundation and Edward Saperia — Newspeak House.

Upcoming Legislation

Welsh Government introduces Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

The new Bill will deliver reforms increasing the size of the Senedd from 60 to 96 members and shore up the Senedd’s scrutiny function. Additionally, the Welsh Government has proposed changing its electoral system to a closed proportional list system. Whilst welcoming the long awaited changes, the Electoral Reform Society highlights the problems of the closed list system, as opposed to STV, in their analysis of the new Bill.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford sets out progressive laws to strengthen Welsh democracy

In addition to the new Senedd Cymru Bill (above), Mark Drakeford outlined a number of bills expected to be put forward in the coming months, including a bill to increase representation of women in the Senedd via gender quotas, another bill to improve electoral administration and increase the numbers of those registered to vote in Wales. The First Minister also committed to establishing an Electoral Management Board for Wales. Read the full analysis by Jess Blair on the Institute for Welsh Affairs blog.

Trade Unions agree to resist ‘anti-strike laws’

Earlier this month, delegates at the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool almost unanimously backed a “non-compliance” motion put forward by the Fire Brigades Union and NASUWT. The motion means the TUC will hold a special conference to ‘explore options for non-compliance and resistance’.

Online Safety Bill approved by Lords, awaits Royal Assent
The Online Safety Bill was approved by the House of Lords on 19 September and now awaits royal assent before becoming law. The legislation will give Ofcom the ability to issue fines of up to £18 million for media and tech companies who fail to remove harmful or illegal content. MPs David Davis and Caroline Lucas made an 11th hour attempt to help further protect end-to-end encryption, a longstanding issue of controversy within the bill.

Democracy Sector

Upcoming Democracy Network events:

18th Oct 2.30pm, Lunchtime Briefing with My Vote My Voice, Register
19th Oct 2.30pm, Democracy Offers & Needs Market, Register
20th Oct, Democracy Coworking — Bristol, Register
16th November 2.30pm, Democracy Offers & Needs Market, Register
November & December, 4 x free Media Training sessions, coming soon…
November, Democracy Coworking in Cardiff, coming soon…
December 13th, Democracy Coworking in Manchester, coming soon…

Democracy Network party conference events listing

Thanks to all of your input, the Democracy Network has published this page to track party conference events at all the major conferences this year. If we’ve missed anything let us know at hello@democracynetwork.org.uk.

Democracy Network offering free places on new Leadership Programme by Axialent

In partnership with the Democracy Network, Axialent is running leadership training for 6 weeks from October 19th for 10 Democracy Network members. Apply for the training now by contacting Louise. See more info about the course program. Applicants must be Democracy Network Members to participate, sign up here.

Democracy sector organisations meet with new Labour democracy spokesperson

Nine democracy sector organisations were fortunate enough to meet Florence Eshalomi MP recently in one of their first meetings with outside organisations. Florence Eshalomi is the newly appointed Labour democracy spokesperson, replacing Alex Norris MP. The discussion covered a wide range of issues and hopefully is the start of a close working relationship, remarked one of the participants.

UK model of democracy creates gulf between citizens and government, argues Tim Hughes

As part of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy and the Institute for Government’s Review of the UK Constitution work, Tim Hughes, Democracy & Participation Lead at the Open Government Partnership, has written a new paper on UK democracy, its discontents, and potential paths forward for better engaging citizens in democracy. The paper argues that the UK’s model of democracy and government does not put citizens at the heart of decision making — it should. Read the new paper here.

Join Participedia’s next Teaching Cafe!

Are you an academic looking to learn more about collaborating with democracy practitioners? Are you working at a democracy organisation or on a democracy project, and want to understand more about how you can interact with, learn from and share resources with democracy academics? Join Participedia on Weds October 11th 5pm for a special session — register here.

People Powered launch their new Participation Playbook

Launched last week, the new guide by People Powered aims to better help communities and local governments implement participatory programmes, opening up decisions to meaningful and equitable community participation. Check out the Playbook.

This Is The North 2023 coming to Preston

People’s Powerhouse’s annual convention will be coming to Preston this November. PPH’s Chair Edna Robinson said: ‘We’re incredibly excited to bring the This Is the North Convention to Preston this November. The people of the North will gather to raise their collective voice across this brilliant city to demand a North that is fit for our future.’ Register now for tickets or fill out this EOI form if you’d like to deliver a workshop, talk or other sessions.

My Life My Say prepare for Next Gen Conference 2023

My Life My Say’s Next Gen Conference is a globally recognised summit aimed at connecting young people with leading policymakers and empowering them to explore solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing society. Sign up now.

Polish Migrants Organise hiring for three amazing roles

POMOC are hiring for three roles, a new London Organiser, Liverpool Organiser and a new WeVote Campaign Coordinator. The October 9th deadline is fast approaching so get your applications in soon — apply now.

Involve appoint new Director of Climate Programmes in strategic shift to climate

Sarah Allan has been appointed as Involve’s new Director of Climate Programmes as part of a new strategic focus on public engagement on climate. Carly Dawson-Walker will be their new Director of Capacity Building & Standards.

Coming soon: The Reith Lectures

This year’s BBC Radio 4 Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Ben will be recording four lectures in their Our Democratic Futures series. The 2023 lectures will be recorded live in front of British, American and German audiences.

Young people remain doubtful about merits of democracy, new poll finds

A major new report, Can Democracy Deliver? by the Open Society Foundation has found 82% of people in the UK believe it is important to live in a democracy. Young people however, fall significantly short, with just 54% espousing a firm belief in democracy, and with more than 22% supporting some form of military rule in the UK.

Women and Girls Network hiring for several roles

These five fantastic roles with the Women and Girls Network are only open to female applicants, apply here.

Friends of Indian Democracy looking for a great new campaigner

Friends of Indian Democracy (working title) is a newly established campaign group in the UK working to become a diaspora-led voice in the UK for preserving and promoting democracy in India and amplifying support for India’s democratic foundations. They are looking for a new campaigner, salaried at £50,000, deadline 9th October — Apply now.

Access to free legal advice via LawWorks for not-for-profits

LawWorks is a charity working in England and Wales to enable access to justice through free legal advice, and their not-for-profit programme brokers free legal advice for smaller not-for-profit organisations. If your organisation is facing a legal issue and you would like free legal advice, you can find out more about how LawWorks might be able to help, including details on the eligibility requirements and how to apply for support, on their website.

Funding Democracy

Catalyst publish list of third sector funding opportunities

Catalyst has published a full list of third sector funding organisations — check it out now.

Churchill Fellowship open to applications

The paid Churchill Fellowship enables successful applicants to spend 4–8 weeks meeting and working with innovators in your field, anywhere in the world, in person or online, helping you develop your learnings into practical outputs for your community or sector. Find out more.

Elections

New GOV.UK online portal for postal votes / proxy votes is coming, 31st October

Utilising a similar design to that found on the new Voter Authority Certificate site, the new GOV.UK ‘Apply for a postal vote’ ‘Apply for a proxy vote’ sites will not require a passport photo, but simply a photo of a handwritten signature. With the news, this means that the long standing www.onlinepostalvote.uk website, built by Zac Downs as a volunteer project in just a few days 7 years ago can now, finally, be retired.

By-elections set for 19th October to replace Dorries and Pincher

Both elections are set to be tight votes, with Labour and Lib Dems hoping to repeat their recent by-election victories over the beleaguered Tories.

New research demonstrates null effect of social media advertising on voter registration

Research by Asli Unan, Peter John, Florian Foos and Vanessa Cheng-Matsuno finds ‘no evidence consistent with digital campaigning meaningfully affecting voter registrations’. Download the research on SocArXiv.

Bates Wells, NEON & Stone King to run Q&A on rules around joint campaigning, Oct 17 5.30pm

The second in their series of webinars, the next session looks at what counts and what steps to take to make sure your engagement with allies doesn’t get classified as joint campaigning, if that’s not your intention. Register now.

Electoral Commission publish their final reports on the English and NI 2023 local elections

The Electoral Commission reports for England and Northern Ireland look at how the May 2023 elections were run, how voters and campaigners found taking part, and what lessons can be learned for the future.

LGIU Local Democracy Research Centre publishes their report on voter ID impacts

The 47 page report, The Impact of Voter ID: The Views of Administrators published by the Local Government Information Unit’s Local Democracy Research Centre analyses the perceptions of administrators, their reports on the increased pressure voter ID places on the electoral system, the likelihood of potential serious disruptions due to voter ID at GE polling day and more. Read the full report.

DLUHC publish evaluation plan for Electoral Integrity Programme

Back in December 2022, the UK Government committed to appointing external evaluators to analyse and research the measures being conducted through the Elections Act 2022, with a report due in November 2023. The published plan outlines their evaluation design, overview and research questions.

Councils put on alert for spring election, insiders say

Local authorities have reportedly been told to expect an election within months. Polling guru Isaac Levido has also rejoined CCHQ and Sunak’s election team after vacating Truss’ team during the collapse of their government last year.

Electoral Commission state up to 8 million missing from electoral rolls

In a new report last month, the Electoral Commission detailed that over 8 million people are incorrectly registered and are at risk of missing out on their right to vote. The report states that while 87% of White people are correctly registered, only 80% of Asian people and 72% of Black people are.

Democratic Reform & Innovation

Involve and the Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy host special event on citizens’ assemblies

Last Monday, Involve and CCoUKD held a series of roundtable discussions with senior civil servants, parliamentary officials, MPs and civil society organisations to promote awareness and understanding of citizens’ assemblies. Speakers included Art O’Leary and Iain Walker of newDemocracy Foundation.

Democracy and Constitution APPG finds voter ID led to discrimination at polling booths

The new report by the APPG remarks that the recent voter ID legislation is a ‘poisoned cure’, disenfranchising voters more than it protects against fraud. The APPG is calling for amendments to be made to the legislation, including a greater range of ID documents, following evidence suggesting that significant numbers of voters suffered racial and disability discrimination at polling booths based on the need for ID.

Efforts to improve gender equality in Parliament have made too little progress, report says

Open House: Where Next for Gender Equality in Parliament is the first ever audit of a decade’s worth of reports into gender equality in the UK Parliament, compiled by the APPG on Women in Parliament, Fawcett Society and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. Of 92 recommendations, across 36 different themes, which have been made to 29 different bodies since 2014, only a handful have actually been implemented.

Labour publish full policy document condemning First Past the Post

Earlier in the summer, Labour’s National Policy Forum agreed policy stating the party views ‘First Past the Post as part of the problem’. Now, for the first time, the Labour Party has released the full policy document condemning First Past the Post.

Scottish Lib Dem Deputy Leader calls for electoral reform

Wendy Chamberlain, Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has called for reforms to the First Past the Post system, writing, ‘If voting is the cornerstone of democracy, first past the post perverts that entirely’.

Scottish Government publishes their electoral reform consultation analysis

Published back in late July, the Scottish Government’s paper outlines their findings from their 2022/23 Electoral Reform Consultation — check out the findings.

Lord’s reform will be ongoing headache for Labour, says Institute for Government Director

Implementing reform of the House of Lords will pose a significant challenge for Keir Starmer should Labour form the next government, argues Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government, writing in the FT. White notes that any bill which forces the Lords to contemplate their own future will seriously distract them from scrutinising and enacting Labour’s core legislative programme.

Institute for Government publish their final report on the UK constitution

The final report in the 18-month Review of the UK Constitution by the Institute for Government and Bennett Institute for Public Policy is complete. They conclude that the UK constitution has been tested to its limit and is in urgent need of reform. Read the report.

Unhack Democracy prepare for the polish elections

Unhack Democracy are working towards developing a network for civil society organisation resilience through hope-based leadership in Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Ahead of the 15th October elections in Poland for the Sejm and Senate, they’ll be heading over for an election observation study trip with the European Platform for Democratic Elections. Contact Zsofi to find out more.

Legislative Theatre wrap up successful projects with Greater Manchester & Trafford Council

Katy Rubin and the team at Legislative Theatre have just completed their project on ‘Right to the Streets’ with two local authorities, addressing public safety for women and girls, and all residents, in public spaces and transport across the region. Katy Rubin recently published an article on Legislative Theatre practice and how every citizen can be a policy analyst, for the Political Studies Association.

Government ‘flying blind’ on the scale of corruption and fraud, say Public Accounts Committee

A report by the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee has revealed that, apart from the £16.4 billion estimated tax and benefit fraud found by the National Audit Office last year, ministers have no idea about the level of fraud in the rest of government. Present estimates suggest that this could amount to anything from an additional £2.5 billion to £28.5 billion, leading to claims from MPs that the government is ‘flying blind’ on the true scale of corruption and fraud.

Extinction Rebellion UK hosting discussion with KNOCA on how climate NGOs should engage with climate assemblies

Kathie Conn of XR UK shares news of their upcoming webinar on 11th October bringing together climate assembly experts, including Alina Averchenkova of the Knowledge Network of Climate Assemblies (KNOCA) to discuss the importance of the urgent requirement for a citizens assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Democracy & Media

IMPRESS writes to political parties over fake newspapers circulated by CCHQ

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Chief Exec of IMPRESS, the regulator of the independent press, has written to representatives of each major political party over the use of party leaflets dressed up to look like newspapers. The letter urges the leaders to review this practice amid the ‘crisis of trust’ in both journalists and politicians citing the very real consequences such tactics may have on UK democracy. For more information on this see Democracy Bulletin issue #54.

Elon Musk fires half of X, formerly known as Twitter, Election Integrity Team

This one’s a bit of a mess, but the short version is that Musk fired half the team responsible for election misinformation monitoring, in addition to this Musk’s team disabled the button used to report election misinformation.

Editors call for greater action on SLAPPs

A chorus of news editors from The Times, Telegraph, FT, Guardian and the Chief Exec of ITN have called for greater action to address the use of SLAPPs, stating that though anti-SLAPP provisions have been included in a recent amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, this was ‘only a partial victory’ and the next step must be ‘a standalone anti-SLAPP bill to extend protections to everyone who speaks out in the public interest’.

Slump in UK Corruption Index rating due to ‘noisy reporting’, claims Cabinet Office

Cabinet officials are blaming the UK’s slump in the global Corruption Perceptions Index on ‘noisy reporting’, their argument being that the media’s coverage of the COVID-19 scandals has contributed to decline in the UK’s international standing. Byline Times covers the story here.

New Byline Times polling shows decline of mainstream news outlets

New polling by We Think for Byline Times shows that for most voters under 40, newspapers and broadcasters are no longer their main source of news. 52% of UK under 40s now say social media is their main source, with 25% specifically listing TikTok as their primary source of news. See the full Byline story here.

Civic Tech

Dembrane wins $100k OpenAI grant

Last month we announced that Recursive Public, a joint UK project between Chatham House and vTaiwan had won one of the 10 OpenAI grants as part of their Democratic Inputs to AI fund. Now we can announce that Dembrane, has also won the award. Dembrane is a partnership between Sortition Foundation and a number of dutch organisations and businesses. Dembrane seeks to better map insights from large scale participatory processes, check it out.

Democracy Network AI & Democracy WhatsApp Group to begin regular webinars

Are you interested in applying or experimenting with the new AI large language model tools? Concerned about the impact of AI on democratic processes? Join the Democracy Network’s AI & Democracy WhatsApp Group, Bella Roberts, Founder of Antiparty, is organising new biweekly evening webinars starting on 26th October, more on this soon — or join the WhatsApp Group to find out more.

New Harmonica chatbot to enable quick sensemaking in participatory processes

Harmonica is a new project developed by Newspeak House Fellow Artem Zhiganov. The Harmonica chatbot, currently in beta on Discord, enables very fast deliberation between large groups, conversing with Chat GPT, synthesising key learnings quickly. Email Artem for an invite to the Harmonica prototype on Discord.

Ade Adeyemi unpacks the potential for AI and its impacts for electoral campaigning

Ade Adeyemi, formerly of Chatham House, provides a broad overview of the potential for Labour to utilise AI tools to leapfrog the Conservative Party on campaigning at the next election. Worth a read, if only for the nugget that Keir Starmer’s son has been teaching them to use ChatGPT! If you’re interested in technology and campaigning, make sure you check out Campaign Lab, who run regular hackathons in London and online.

And Finally…

This Inequality Does Not Exist, generates images of housing in London

This website built by Aleksi Knuutila is an experiment in how generative AI could be used to study social phenomena such as the visual aspects of social processes in cities. The demo tool uses thousands of images of housing in London and associated health and income data to display synthetic, generated images, based on user parameters, abstracting social processes.

Targeting the German Bundestag is quite complicated

In this short post, Fix The Status Quo outline just how difficult it is to pull off a successful Bundestag-wide political campaign, due to the complexity of the German political system — thanks to Edward Saperia for this one.

The Influence Industry Explorer

Peter Keeling sent this one in, The Influence Industry Explorer unpacks the myriad ways companies play a role in political elections around the world, including… Antarctica?

Featured Upcoming Events

The UK Democracy Network maintains a full database of events from across the democracy sector.

View the database here — Have we missed something? Add it here!

Featured Job Listings across the Democracy Sector

View the full database of upcoming job listings here — have we missed any? Add them via this form.

See you next time, add to your calendar

James, Max and the UK Democracy Network team