IPPR says elections could lose legitimacy because of falling turnout among groups such as renters and non-graduates. UK elections are “close to a tipping point” where they lose legitimacy because of plummeting voter turnout among renters and non-graduates, an influential thinktank has said.
Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Studies (IPPR) found that the gap in turnout between those with and without university degrees grew to 11 percentage points in the 2024 general election – double that of 2019. The turnout gap between homeowners and renters grew by nearly a quarter between the 2017 and 2024 elections, to 19 percentage points.
The findings suggest a growing disillusionment with politics among certain social groups, which is leading to increasingly unequal elections. Parth Patel, an associate director of democracy and politics at IPPR, said: “We are close to the tipping point at which elections begin to lose legitimacy because the majority do not take part. That should be ringing more alarm bells than it is.”.
Turnout inequality in the 2024 election was 11 percentage points between the top and bottom third earners and between people in working class and middle class jobs, which was largely unchanged since 2015. The turnout gap between 18- to 24-year-olds and over-60s was 21 percentage points, a measure that has also remained stable, according to the analysis.
