Adding None of the Above to ballot papers can fix our ‘broken’ democracy

Regularly, a half of all Brits are opting out of their right to vote and instead are choosing to stay home. Andy Burnham is right to say, like he did this week in Manchester, that “we need to change politics and we need to do it now.” And what better way to deliver that “circuit breaker” we need than to drive up turnout at elections?

The UK has long had woeful turnout in elections. In fact, the turnout in 2024 dropped far lower than the usual paltry figure, plunging below 60 per cent.

In Scotland this year turnout was 53 per cent. In Wales it was just 51 per cent. This is not sustainable. Our society is left divided when the richer, older, and more privileged amongst us are the only ones who vote. In 2001, when turnout at the general election plunged to hitherto unheard of depths, many politicians thought this would be a catalyst for change.

Instead, we have continued to expect these numbers to improve by doing nothing more than crossing our fingers and hoping.

One way to solve this is to give people more choice on their ballot papers. Instead of forcing them to vote for people or parties they don’t like, we should give them an option to properly reject the status quo and register their annoyance with conventional politics.

At the moment, if you spoil your ballot it’s counted (or rather, not counted) the same whether you write an essay explaining why you don’t like any of the options or whether you draw an obscene image. Giving a formal “None of the Above” option would allow people who are angry or disillusioned to ensure their voice is heard at election time.

It would also be a first step towards the only real longterm solution to our woeful turnout rates. As I have long argued, the solution is to introduce compulsory voting like they have in Australia. Australians have forced everyone to turnout at elections since the 1920s and turnout has never dropped below 90 per cent.

That’s because Australians know that if you want an election which tells you exactly what the people think, everyone has to vote. And there are benefits for all of us when you achieve that high turnout. Economic growth that we haven’t had properly in this country since the 2008 financial crisis, can be unlocked if the Government could confidently legislate for everyone in this country not just a decreasing number of older and richer people who turn out at election time.

Take the Australian Labor Party’s recent budget. There they made changes to housing and tax policy which have been controversial with the more wealthy in the country. But because their government knows young people will turn out at election time, they feel confident to make these bold changes without fearing they’ll be booted out of office.

But voting isn’t just a means to unlock economic growth. It’s also a duty for citizens which we should be proud of and celebrate. And that’s why this polling, which reveals support for introducing compulsory voting in elections goes up when we add a None of the Above option to ballot papers, is so crucial.

We must do all we can to make voting popular especially if we follow our Australian friends and introduce compulsory voting. That’s a guaranteed way to deliver a political circuit breaker!

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Lord Foulkes of Cumnock is a member of the House of Lords. He served as a Minister under Tony Blair, was an MP from 1979-2005, and a Member of the Scottish Parliament from 2007-2011. He is on the advisory board of the Campaign for Compulsory Voting