UK Democracy Bulletin, September 2023
Editors note: In the original version of this digest, a story was included suggesting that the Labour For A New Democracy campaign was working with Led By Donkeys on a banner drop outside the Labour Party HQ, this was incorrect and falsely attributed and has been removed.
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
Highlights
- My Vote My Voice urge govt to progress accessible voting ahead of elections
- mySociety prepare to celebrate 20 years with a party & awards ceremony
- Labour appoint new shadow minister for democracy
- Research for Action publish new report on importance of local auditing
- Electoral Commission suffers fallout from major cyber attack
Important information
You can join the UK Democracy Network as a member here.
Join the UK Democracy Network’s WhatsApp Community, there are currently 9 active groups on topics ranging from AI & Democracy to Democracy Academics Collaboration.
Thanks to our contributors
Thanks to everyone who joined us last week for our Democracy Check-In. We were joined by Flynn Devine — Alan Turing Institute / Recursive Public, Gloria Dawson — Research for Action, Perry Walker — Talk Shop, Rebecca Deegan — I Have A Voice, Myf Nixon — mySociety, Edward Saperia — Newspeak House, Barnaby Fynn — Global People Power and Yvonne Murphy — Omidaze Productions.
Upcoming Legislation
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill returns to Parliament
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill returns to the House of Commons this month, where MPs will vote on a range of amendments from the Lords that seek to close loopholes in tackling economic crime. The amendments provide updates to the hastily passed Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, which attempted to crack down on the prevalence of dirty money within London.
Voters reject plans to leave European Court of Human Rights
Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering plans to leave the European Court of Human Rights at the next general election despite wide condemnation from legal experts and human rights groups, as well as the Conservatives’ political opponents. However, according to a poll run by the Byline Times, 54% of voters want the UK to remain within the ECHR compared to just 23% who want to leave.
Democracy Sector
Upcoming Democracy Network events:
- 14th Sept 2.30pm, How To Workshop: Improving Disabled Political Representation & Participation, Register
- 19th Sept 6pm, Democracy Drinks — London, Register
- 27th Sept, Democracy Coworking — London, Register
- 28th Sept 2.30pm, Democracy Offers & Needs Market, Register
- 18th Oct 2.30pm, Lunchtime Briefing with My Vote My Voice, Register
- 20th Oct, Democracy Coworking — Bristol, Register
- November, Democracy Coworking in Cardiff, coming soon…
- 13th December, Democracy Coworking in Manchester
Are you getting ready for the party conference season? Democracy Network want to know
Democracy Network are tracking who’s doing what across the democracy sector this conference season. Are you organising an event, canvassing party members, organising a conference vote? We’re looking to understand who’s doing what, to better understand how the wider democracy movement can help support them, the Network are looking to partner on events, contact Democracy Network Director Jessie Joe Jacobs if you’d like support, speaking opportunities or sponsorship — add your party conference activities into this sheet.
Prepare for the first ever mySociety Awards
Celebrating their 20th year as an organisation, mySociety wants to give a little back to those who’ve used their services to make positive change over that whole period. So if you know someone who used mySociety services and made an impact, now or as far back as the 2000s, go ahead and nominate them with this form.
Operation Black Vote launch new Civic Leadership Programme
In partnership with Westminster City Council, Operation Black Vote is launching a new and unique civic leadership programme aimed at nurturing future Westminster leaders and encouraging people from black and minority ethnic communities to get more involved in civic and political leadership — find out more (deadline has been extended).
Labour appoint new Shadow Minister for Democracy
The new Shadow Minister for Democracy Florence Eshalomi MP will sit within the Levelling Up dept.
Business and Democracy Commission to launch interim report
On 12th September, the Business and Democracy Commission are to hold their inaugural meeting, asking the question: when it comes to the relationship between democracy and business, what does good or bad look like? Register for the Zoom launch and crowdfund the effort here.
I Have A Voice public new report on political literacy in the UK
Capturing Political Literacy? Towards a nationwide measure in the UK is a new report published by I Have A Voice (IHAV), in partnership with thinktank The 89 Initiative. The report is the first output of a plan of work to better define and understand what a nationwide measure of political literacy might look like. Email Rebecca Deegan, Co-founder of IHAV, with any questions.
Carnegie UK kickstart new Democratic Wellbeing Champions programme
Whilst the open call is closed now, until last week Carnegie UK were looking to identify 12 new ‘democratic wellbeing champions’. Envisioned as critical friends and advisors for their new Engaging Democracy programme, the small cohort will assist Carnegie in the conception of their ongoing work around better understanding democratic wellbeing in relation to participatory democracy in Scotland. So if you’re into democratic wellbeing research, get in touch with Hannah Paylor at Carnegie for more info.
Democracy Box prepare to upscale their prototype proof of concept
Yvonne Murphy of Omidaze Productions is on the cusp of publishing their new report on their proof of concept Democracy Box prototypes, after which they’ll begin a year of partnership work with the Electoral Commission, and conversations with the BBC to upscale their prototypes. In addition to all of this, Yvonne and the team are trying to secure multi-year core funding — and finalise their last trial of The Talking Shop in Caerphilly this winter. Interested? Contact Yvonne for more information.
DemocracyNext publish new Assembly Guide
The Democracy Next Assembly Guide breaks down a citizens’ assembly into phases, examples and downloadable templates. They’re aiming to expand their guide in coming months, being published in more languages and with advice on utilising it in different settings, ie schools, unions and workplaces. Download the guide now.
UPPER Coalition release report calling on the UK government to urgently publish a public engagement strategy.
The UPPER coalition, which includes Climate Outreach, Ashden, Involve and the Climate Citizens research group at Lancaster University has this week called for the UK government to publish its strategy urgently after committing to produce a public engagement plan at Cop26 in 2021. As part of their calls, the group has released two reports. The first report, led by Climate Outreach, makes four key asks and outlines the vital components for a public engagement strategy to succeed, whilst the second report, led by Involve, brings together thinking from the different fields of public engagement and is intended as a practical reference for officials at all levels of government charged with developing public engagement strategies on climate.
Constitution Unit looking for a Research Assistant for new project on parliamentary procedure
The Constitution Unit has recently launched a new project — ‘The Politics of Parliamentary Procedure’ — funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). They are now looking to recruit a Research Assistant for that project. The project will explore the role of different actors in choosing and changing procedures in the UK House of Commons, with a particular focus on understanding the extent, causes, and consequences of government influence.
Heading to Labour Conference? Don’t miss Politics for the Many’s Democracy Fringe
The Politics for the Many event will see former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP in conversation with democracy heavyweights from across the Labour movement. The event is supported by Unlock Democracy, Make Votes Matter, Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform and Labour for a New Democracy. Register now.
50:50 Parliament launch new Labour-focused public speaking training
The 50:50 Parliament training will run on 12th September at 8pm, delivered by the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Cllr Lubna Arshad. Find out more.
Funding Democracy
Recursive Public awarded 100k grant from OpenAI
As part of their $1M grants programme Democratic Inputs to AI, OpenAI have awarded 10 applicants $100k. Recursive Public, a new collaboration between a set of independent researchers, including Carl Miller and Flynn Devine, Chatham House and vTaiwan, has been awarded one such tranche of funding. Their project aims to develop participatory methods for AI development, identifying areas of consensus and disagreement among the international Artificial Intelligence (AI) community, policymakers, and the general public on key questions of AI governance. Find out more.
Blagrave announce new Pathways Fund for youth-led changemaker orgs
The fund aims to offer 5–7 grants between £60–90k over three years to emergent youth-led groups and collectives across England. Find out more and share it with your network.
UK Democracy Fund seeking digital expertise for new voter participation campaign
Ellen Berry at the UK Democracy Fund is looking for ambitious and effective non-partisan digital campaigns focused on voter participation. The Fund is looking to potentially fund and seriously scale up their work to hit their target goal of one million more people from lower propensity voting groups to register and vote in the next General Election — contact Ellen for more information.
Newspeak House spinning up project to help new MPs set up their offices effectively
Newspeak House — the London College of Political Technology, report that they are undertaking the first phase of work on a new project to update and maintain best practice around setting up new MPs offices effectively, in light of changing technologies and organisational practices. The first phase, user research with MP office staff has started this month — so if you know any MP staffers that might be up for a chat, let them know — whilst they’ve received some small seed funding for this first phase, they are looking for funding opportunities for the remaining £85,000 to complete the project, can you help?
Greater London Authority Democracy Hub announce successful grant applicants
GLA Democracy Hub have announced their recent awards for work in reaching out to under-registered and under-represented communities across London. 14 successful applicants were chosen, including The Politics Project, Disability Action Haringey and the Bulgarian Centre for Social Integration and Culture. Award recipients will receive between £25–50k and will now work to deliver impartial voter registration and voter ID informational activity and awareness raising across the capital. Congratulations to the successful applicants! Find out more about the GLA Democracy Hub Phase Two grant.
SMK launch new report and ask, is our democracy at a tipping point?
Launching their new report Defending our democratic space: a call to action, Sheila McKechnie and Civil Exchange argue that the UK is now approaching a tipping point with regards to the democratic health of the United Kingdom. The report urges civil society organisations to speak out about this impending crisis before it is too late. Read the press release here.
VocalEyes looking for funding to upgrade their platform
VocalEyes CIC runs an amazing and long-running community participation and engagement platform. With a decade of success behind them they’re looking to the future and — importantly — a tech upgrade for their 10 year old platform. They’re looking for funding to expand, as well as to develop their tech stack, including the use of new generative AI. Can you assist them, or any have leads for them to follow up? Contact Arthur at VocalEyes.
Catalyst publish list of third sector funding opportunities
Catalyst has published a full list of third sector funding organisations — check it out now.
Elections
My Vote My Voice urge govt to focus on accessible voting ahead of next year’s election
Members of the accessible voting coalition My Vote My Voice handed in their petition calling on the UK Government and Parliament to urgently focus on accessible voting measures ahead of the next elections. Hannah Molloy of United Response said ‘this means a lot to me, as I’m autistic and struggle a lot due to voting barriers’. Niamh Mitchell from Ambitious About Autism remarked the campaign is really important as it will ‘give individuals like me who are autistic or who have a learning disability the opportunity to vote just like everyone else’. Tom Pursglove MP, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, said he had received the recommendations ‘loud and clear’.
Mid-Bedfordshire by-election could be a watershed moment for tactical voting
With both Labour and the Liberal Democrats planning to fight hard for Nadine Dorries’ former seat, the upcoming Mid-Beds by-election could see the Tories hang on to control despite local anger with the former Secretary of State. But Professor Roy Lowe suggests this could be the moment to clarify once and for all that tactical voting is the only way to remove the Tories from power given the flaws of our electoral system.
Newspeak House begin planning Election Tech Handbook
Edward Saperia, Director of Newspeak House, has begun planning for next year’s Election Tech Handbook, the successor initiative to the 2017 and 2019 Election Tech Handbooks which functioned as a central repository, convening hub and signpost for projects, election data, communication channels and events during those general elections. Get in touch with Ed to find out more or join their WhatsApp Group.
The Bristol Cable ask their readers to help them with local election monitoring
In 2019 The Bristol Cable worked with readers to monitor election advertising by asking them to submit pictures of campaign material they received physically and via social media. In the run up to the next general election they will be repeating the process, asking voters to send them content so they can analyse dodgy bar charts and call out misinformation wherever they see it. Relatedly, see Electionleaflets.org.
Democratic Reform & Innovation
National Policy Forum declares ‘FPTP flawed & damaging’
The Labour Party’s internal policy process, the National Policy Forum, has formally announced that the UK electoral system is a ‘driver of the distrust and alienation we see in politics’. The statement was made following weeks of extensive consultation across the whole party, including the membership, affiliated trade unions and elected NPF reps. Labour for a New Democracy remarked that ‘this is a significant turning point’.
New research suggests the public back expanding electoral franchise to 16 year olds
New research commissioned by The Body Shop and The British Youth Council has found that 64% of adults would have liked to have had the vote at 16. The findings build on existing evidence that suggests that if a younger person is engaged in the democratic process during such formative years in their development, the more likely they are to participate in later life.
Institute for Government and Bennett Institute publish new report on electoral reform
The new report Electoral Reform and the constitution: What might a different voting system mean for the UK?, published as part of the Institute for Government / Bennett Institute ‘Review of the UK Constitution’ looks at the potential implications of electoral reform for the House of Commons for the functioning of the UK Constitution.
Liz Truss’ resignation honours list signals turning point for Lords reform, says Electoral Reform Society
The House of Lords has hit rock bottom support among the public according to recent research by the think tank Labour Together. Their report found that only 21 per cent of people trust Peers to act in the best interests of the people, behind journalists (22%), MPs (24%) and business leaders (34%). Now that Truss is handing out 49 honours despite her short and tumultuous tenure in №10, Mike Wright at the Electoral Reform Society says the UK could be reaching a turning point in terms of attitudes to the second chamber.
Talk Shop plan new Win-Win Workout on local transport planning
Last week Perry Walker, Bob Bollen and the Talk Shop team ran a Win-Win Workout on homelessness, now they’re turning their attention to how consensual solutions can be applied to the tricky issue of local transport planning.
Global People Power invite comment on their 2023–2025 strategic plan
Barnaby Flynn of Global People Power is working to find agreement between a range of global democracy organisations from The Alternative to Extinction Rebellion on what daily act like Clap for Carers might find traction. Barnaby is also seeking comment on their strategic plan.
Devolved Democracy / Local Democracy
Research for Action launch new report on local government auditing
The new report Local Audit: Why Public Interest Needs to Count by Gloria Dawson and the team at Research for Action looks at the collapse of the local government auditing regime over the past decade and its wider impact on local democracy. The report argues that audit should be treated as an exercise conducted in the public interest and for the public good, but has largely been sidelined over the last decade due to austerity impacts and the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2015. Find out more about the report by contacting Gloria and the team at Research for Action.
This Is The North 2023 coming to Preston
People’s Powerhouse’s annual convention will be coming to Preston later this year — follow them on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates.
Civic Power Fund reflect on their efforts to embed community organising in Warm Welcome spaces
Last winter Good Faith and Civic Power Fund worked to experiment with building community power through supporting organisers around Warm Welcome spaces. Explore the findings of their community organising pilots in this blog by CPF Director, Martha Mackenzie. Funding for the pilots was provided by JRF, Trust for London and JRSST-CT.
People’s Powerhouse, CLES and others consider a Northern Manifesto
Last week’s brilliant New Economy North Social (#NENSocial) in Manchester focused on what a Northern Manifesto might look like. See here for the full range of suggestions from the event. #NENSocial is supported by CLES, People’s Powerhouse, IPPR North and NEON.
Fabian Society calls for greater devolution to tackle inequality
The Fabian Society’s Commission on Poverty and Regional Inequality has published its final report A Good Life In All Regions: Uniting Our Country To End Poverty, calling for greater devolution of power to mayors and councils to strengthen the fabric of regional governance. In response to the report, Local Trust’s policy officer Steven Barclay has gone further in arguing that a hyperlocal focus also needs to exist to rebalance power and prosperity within specific regions.
Scoping of £10m community wealth fund for Cornwall
With potential funding from the Public Works Loan Board and UK Infrastructure Bank, and with advice from the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, the project — currently in a scoping phase — aims to be co-owned with Cornwall Council. The proposal is to include citizens’ assemblies and panels for the region, with governance of the fund drawn from representatives of the assembly.
Integrity & Transparency
Electoral Commission suffers massive cyber attack targeting electoral registers
The attack took place in August 2021 and was identified in October 2022 after suspicious activity was detected on Electoral Commission systems. The perpetrators accessed servers containing the EC’s email, control systems and copies of electoral registries — including personal data of all of those who registered to vote between 2014–2022.
Unlock Democracy demands voter protection in the wake of EC hack
Russia has been widely reported as the actor behind the hack (above) with fears the data could be weaponised and used to fuel disinformation efforts. Unlock Democracy has written to the Electoral Commission asking them to take urgent action to prevent this — add your name here.
Royal Society of the Arts enters dispute with staff over pay rises
Staff at the Royal Society of the Arts who have been attempting to unionise since at least last October, have overwhelmingly voted for strike action by 93%, on a 79% turnout of members. The RSA have so far resisted acknowledging the union, with staff reporting a ‘toxic culture of fear’ around unionisation. Another staff member said ‘negotiations have been totally dismissive, anti-democratic and hypocritical. The RSA talks a lot about collaboration, openness, participation but they are failing to put this into practice’. The RSA responded with a press statement on their website.
Conservative Party attempt to spoof local papers in pre-election push
As reported in Private Eye recently, the Conservative Party has spent considerable resources distributing party campaigning leaflets to residents across the country, with the leaflets designed to resemble local newspapers including convincing looking mastheads featuring the local constituency name. However, the Party has fallen foul again (they’ve tried this before) in their attempts, with genuine local newspapers of the same name, including the Wolverhampton Chronicle, Dudley Chronicle and Sandwell Chronicle, all distributed to areas where Midland News publishes their own trademarks to such titles, forcing the Tory Party to issue an apology and reparations to the aforementioned news outlet — woops! Byline Times research has found two thirds of Conservative voters want the fake newspaper practice banned.
Half of UK voters consider UK government as institutionally corrupt
Earlier this year the UK achieved its worst ever level in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perceptions Index, with only four other countries — Qatar, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Oman — seeing their rankings decline by as much. According to a new poll for the Byline Times, a majority of voters (53%) now believe the Sunak Ministry is ‘institutionally corrupt’. 57% said they believed the level of corruption in government had increased in their lifetime and only 7% said it had decreased instead.
Democracy & Media
Global philanthropists consider $500m global fund for local journalism
A group including the MacArthur Foundation, Knight Foundation and others are considering to put a seriously large dent into the global problem of a depleted local news sphere. Such a fund could be announced as early as this month.
Reflecting on PINF’s Local News Map research
Joe Mitchell and the team have published their reflections on the Local News Map. Launched earlier in the summer the map constitutes the first ever comprehensive mapping of local news journalism in the UK. Following feedback from various quarters, they’re reopening the map for people to add any media outlets they may have missed, and they’re going to review their methodology, in conversation with interested parties throughout the autumn.
Civic Tech
Democracy Network AI & Democracy WhatsApp Group to begin regular meetings
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 new WhatsApp Group, Isabella Roberts is organising new regular catch ups starting soon on Thursday afternoons.
And Finally…
EU report finds participation in cultural activities enhances civic engagement
The report published by the European Commission analyses the link between democracy and culture, finding that those who participate in cultural activities are far more likely to engage in the civic and democratic life of their community. Thanks to Yvonne Murphy for recommending this one!
Constitution Unit asks, is confrontational questioning good or bad for democratic politics?
Ruxandra Serban, Associate Lecturer in Democratic and Authoritarian Politics at UCL, examines the role of contentious styles of debate in legislative bodies modelled on the Westminster System and whether the aggressive and confrontational cultures that surround these democratic bodies are desirable.
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