What’s on Matthew’s mind: a healthier democracy

I had a lovely time speaking at an event on democratic renewal in Parliament on 4th June, organised by The Institute For Public Policy Research.

Above is an action shot of me being animated, as I know we all are, about Automatic Voter Registration – or AVR, as it’s known.

AVR is not, and never will be (a) exciting or (b) a silver bullet for the democracy and populism challenges we face as a country.

But if the big solution to that challenge is in fact many, many small solutions combined together, then AVR is one of those small things.

The 38 Degrees community wants our democracy to be healthier and to work for everyone.

The Government is considering AVR. This would mean that Government, in all its guises, uses its power to actively ensure that everyone is registered to vote. They should! It would make our democracy that little bit better.

If they do, the response from the public won’t be cheers or jeers. It will be a shrug and a “why didn’t you do this already?”. Too often, Government timidity means the right thing doesn’t happen.

But there’s no public opinion threat to this reform.

We know that because of our new report, which uses polling and focus groups to show that this is a reform which has widespread, cross-party support.

It is a green light for the Government to act – and for campaigners to back the Government if it does.

Read the full report here.