UK Democracy Bulletin, July 26th 2024
The Democracy Network
Connecting the 900+ organisations working to improve UK democracy. Our vision is of a democracy fit for the 21st century
Issue #62 — July 2024
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
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Highlights
#DemocracyJobs
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.
Funding Democracy
Paul Hamlyn’s Ideas and Pioneers Fund reopens
Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Ideas and Pioneers Fund has reopened offering grants up to £20k for individuals, groups and small organisations who want to explore a new idea for social change. Apply now.
Welsh Government Democracy Engagement Grant is now open for applications
Each year £300,000 is made available by the Welsh Government to support and improve democratic engagement in Wales. £40,000 of this pot is still available for grants — the deadline for applications is 16th August 2024. See more about this opportunity now.
Footwork launch programme to support community innovators
The new programme by Footwork works to support people in their community to deliver long term change for neighbourhoods, connecting community builders with mentors and other community connectors. Footwork will cover mentor fees and field trips as well as an unrestricted grant of £5k to each project. Find out more information.
Also in funding news:
Helen Moulinos appointed interim chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the trust has given out million in democracy funding via its Power and Accountability Program. You can find out more about Helen here.
Lush, a long time funder of radical democracy work and campaigning is no longer accepting applications for funding as it reviews its giving strategy. The company says no new funds will be given until next year at the earliest.
Democracy Sector
TEDx London launch Democracy Bootcamp — applications open
TEDx London is running a special one day Democracy Bootcamp aimed at upskilling the next generation of storytellers and exploring how politics can work better for young people. Applications are open until 16th August — and the event will take place on the 12th October — Apply now and share the news.
Input into the Democracy Network’s Annual Members Survey and receive a £15 voucher
The Democracy Network is currently running their annual survey, asking members of the growing Network for their input and feedback on their work. Participants will receive a £15 voucher. Take the survey now.
All-Island Better Democracy Network hosting full network day, August 8th
The full day networking event organised by Marianna Mooney and Rebekah McCabe of the All-Island Better Democracy Network includes a coworking day event, a workshop on DIY Democracy, an in-person Network Meeting and even Democracy Drinks in the evening — Register now!
Liberty to publish civil society letter to the Home Secretary regarding sentencing of climate protesters
Liberty, Greenpeace and Amnesty UK are coordinating a joint civil society letter to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, following the sentencing of 5 Just Stop Oil protesters to 4–5 years in prison last week for planning a protest. They are aiming to mobilise a broad coalition of civil society and community group support to reverse the recent civil rights crackdown. See the content of the letter and sign here.
Open Government Network publish joint letter to the new Prime Minister
The UK Open Government Civil Society Network have drawn together 60 civil society organisations to support an open letter calling upon the government to proceed with open government reforms. View the open letter.
Read the UCL Constitution Unit’s latest Monitor
The Monitor is a quarterly bulletin published by the UCL Constitution Unit highlighting in detail the most important democratic and constitutional issues facing the UK — well worth a read.
Join the Democracy Network for their AI & Democracy Webinar on empowering community voices
The next Democracy Network AI & Democracy webinar, this time will focus on Fora, an AI-supported sense-making platform developed by Cortico and the MIT Centre for Constructive Communication (MIT CCC). Fora is a community-powered, human-led and AI-supported digital approach to making sense of shared experiences. Find out how Fora makes it easier to amplify real voices and share the insights generated in deliberative forums, both large and small. Register now.
Democracy Network are also organising a new Reimagining Political Parties AI & Democracy workshop, featuring contributions from Prof. Kate Dommett of the University of Sheffield and others. The event will reflect on the recent paper by Dr Kate Dommett as well as the latest developments in AI technology being used to assist and represent political candidates themselves — Register now.
Women-led grassroots democracy orgs make the Stylist
Last month, just before the election, the Stylist ran a piece on the women-led grassroots political orgs you should know about — and of course, they highlighted the diligent and amazing work of Naked Politics, Migrant Democracy Project and The Politics Project.
New AI-powered powered tool Whatsard makes Hansard more accessible
Developed by Jethro Reeve, a resident of Newspeak House — the London College of Political Technology — Whatsard is a new tool mimicking WhatsApp that takes Hansard records from TheyWorkForYou and publishes them in a more relatable, easy to read and accessible ‘chat’ format. Check it out here — Whatsard are looking for funding to promote and develop the tool, can you help?
MP Office Manual onboards hundreds of MPs
Edward Saperia, Hannah O’Rourke, Tom Steinberg, Lauren Botsford and the wider team at MP Office Manual have been working over the past several weeks to onboard hundreds of new MPs via their 102-page document packed with best practice and advice drawn from months of user research and analysis with MPs and their office staff. The MP Office Manual helps new MPs & their staff establish and run their offices effectively.
Migrants Organise celebrate the launch of new book ‘A World Without Racism’
Edited by organiser Joshua Virasami, the new book A World Without Racism: Building Antiracist Futures features contributions from Migrants Organise, Healing Justice London, Voices That Shake, Sisters Uncut, and many more across a range of subjects such as migrant justice, women’s liberation, land and food struggles, policing and prisons. Migrants Organise offer a 20% discount code — just use WORLD20 when you order from Pluto Books.
NEON National Spokesperson Training applications open
The New Economy Organisers Network trains and supports people to speak on television and radio, aiming to substantially boost the number of progressive, diverse voices in the campaigning space and boost coverage of underrepresented issues. The training runs from 15–17th October and includes two half days of online training and a full in person day of training — afterwards participants will join as members of the NEON Spokesperson Network, with the opportunity to be promoted to media outlets to speak on issues relating to them and their organisation on a regular basis — Apply now.
Trade union organiser Jane McAlevey passes away
Jane McAlevey was an American trade union organiser, author, Senior Policy Fellow at the UCA Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment And commentator on workers’ rights and struggles, before passing away earlier this month. Jane was a powerful organiser with a formidable track record and a deep commitment to labour organising, whose work impacted upon thousands of organisations across hundreds of countries. Read Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s obituary for Jane.
Danny Sriskandarajah launches new book on people power
Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation and former CEO of Oxfam, Danny Sriskandarajah has released a new book on the power of citizen action. Danny spoke with Unlock Democracy last week and toured the airwaves on Compass’ It’s Bloody Complicated podcast, talking about the new book.
Democratic Reform & Innovation
Demos and Involve launch new Citizens’ White Paper
The Citizens’ White Paper published this week by Involve and Demos sets out why and how the new government can embed participation in its decision-making. The paper recommends citizens’ panels to feed into the new government’s Mission Boards, embedding participation across the civil service, introducing a programme of citizens’ assemblies and setting standards to ensure best practice and standards to ensure citizen participation is independent and rigorous. Read the Citizens White Paper.
Involve pen new thought leadership series on participation under the new government
The series by Involve aims at discussing and exploring possibilities for a new relationship between everyday people and the state under the new Labour Government. Read their first blog here.
Migrant Democracy Project — Report on the MPOWER Political Leadership Program MDPs report highlights the impact of its flagship training program that prepares migrants to run for office. You can read the report here.
Sortition Foundation criticise Starmer’s inaction on House of Lords reforms
Despite pre-election proposals to scrap the House of Lords altogether, the King’s speech contained limited action on this agenda. Labour did promise that no more hereditary Peers would sit in the upper chamber, but the Sortition Foundation criticised Starmer for these timid reforms and for already appointmenting eight new retiring MPs to its ranks.
Labour to prioritise audit reform
The Government plans to create a new regulator, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA). Labour will bring forward legislation previously shelved by the last government, within which will include power to investigate and sanction company directors for serious failures in relation to their financial reporting and audit responsibilities. This will mean directors will face consequences for putting forward any dodgy accounts. Thanks to Research for Action for highlighting this.
Justice Minister provides update on SLAPPS
Lord Ponsonby, a Labour justice minister in the House of Lords, remarked he could not commit to bringing forward standalone legislation on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPS), or set out a timetable for tackling the issue. He said the government would be conducting a review and recognised ‘an urgent need for legislation’ on the matter.
Voting rights for 16 and 17 year olds still a priority despite not being in King’s Speech, says Commons Leader
Despite promising signals that Labour would lower the voting age to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote, no such legislation made it into the King’s Speech. However, Commons Leader, Lucy Powell, said they were hopeful young voters would be allowed to participate at the next general election as the policy remains a commitment for Labour.
Do you use art-based or creative participation methods? INSPIRE want to hear from you
Are you a democratic practitioner/scholar? INSPIRE (Intersectional Space of Participation: Inclusive, Resilient, Embedded) is a new Horizon Europe-funded project starting in April 2024 that aims to strengthen intersectional inclusion within participatory deliberative processes. They are seeking information on processes involving art-based or creative methods. If you use such methods or know processes that do — Get in touch via this form.
Labour for a New Democracy discuss electoral reform with Andy Burnham
Labour for a New Democracy teamed up with Politics for the Many earlier this week to discuss the development of the campaign for proportional representation and the opportunities the change of government brings. Long standing supporter of democratic reform, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, was also on hand to discuss the next steps for electoral reform — check out what they had to say.
Criminal Justice Alliance welcomes new chair, join the Race Equality Expert Group
The Criminal Justice Alliance is a network of 170 organisations working towards a fair and effective criminal justice system, this week they welcome their new Chair of Trustees Dr Gemma Birkett. Join Gemma for CJA’s Time for Change report launch next Tuesday — Register now.
Recent consultations with CJA members highlighted a steep decline in race equality progress within the criminal justice system — in a bid to reverse this decline they formed the Race Equality Expert Members Group, if you or a colleague is interesting in joining, please email CJA Policy Manager, Mark Blake: mark.blake@criminaljusticealliance.org.uk
Lord Rennard raises need for fundamental root and branch democracy reform
Writing in the Byline Times this week, member of the Democracy Network, Lord Chris Rennard argues for the Labour Government to scrap and replace new voter ID rules, restore and strengthen the independence of the Electoral Commission once again, review the proposals of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and work to ensure effective civic education for young people.
Devolved Democracy / Local Democracy
Proposals in King’s Speech must amount to ‘devolution’, not ‘delegation’, says SOLACE
Matt Prosser, president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE), praised proposals in the King’s Speech to strengthen devolved decision making. They cautioned however that councils must not be ‘put on the hook for delivery, whilst left outside of the room on strategy’, and called for the reintroduction of a robust standards system for local government to strengthen local democracy.
The Yorkshire Society host forum on the future governance of Yorkshire
Simon Duffy of Citizens’ Network highlights the upcoming public discussion hosted by the Yorkshire Society as part of their Big Yorkshire Conversation project, an open forum on the options for the future governance of Yorkshire. Check it out.
Integrity & Transparency
Just Stop Oil activists handed down extensive 4–5 year prison sentences
Last Thursday at Southwark Crown Court in central London, Judge Hehir handed down 4–5 year prison sentences to the five Just Stop Oil activists charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, marking the most punitive sentences for nonviolent political protest in modern British political history. They will join Amy Pritchard who was sentenced in June to 10 months in prison for breaking a window of the world’s largest fossil fuel funder, JP Morgan. Sir David King, the government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “This is so disgraceful. We are all hoping that the change in UK Govt will also change the situation in our courts.” Share Just Stop Oil’s 54,000 strong petition to ‘stop jailing those telling the truth’.
On 24 June, the first day of the trial, the UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst, issued a public statement, relating to one of the defendants, Daniel Shaw, describing the threat of a 2 year prison sentence as ‘appalling’ and potentially unlawful under international law.
Extinction Rebellion’s Media Tell The Truth campaign highlights inconsistent application of justice
Judge Hehir, who presided over the Just Stop Oil sentencing last week, is the subject of this Twitter thread by XR’s Media Tell the Truth campaign — who point out the alleged inconsistent application of sentencing guidelines across the range of cases he has presided over.
Bond publish their annual at-a-glance report on UK civic space
The new report by Bond monitors trends among protest rights, charity campaigning and public scrutiny. This report highlights increasingly strict anti-protest laws, restriction of protest defendant rights in court, charity campaign tone-policing, increased pressure on migrants’ rights campaigns, increased use of Henry VIII clauses and vetting or banning experts who are critical of government policy from public events and conferences related to the government — Explore the report.
Liberty agree to adjourn court hearing against Home Secretary over anti-protest legislation
Byline Times reports that government officials are currently deciding whether to continue the appeal against the previous government’s anti-protest legislation, as a result Liberty have agreed to stay the hearing against the Home Secretary and the legislation to allow for talks to proceed.
Katy Watts, lawyer at Liberty said: “We are glad the new Government are taking a moment to reconsider, as this case has immense implications for our democracy and the potential unchecked power of ministers.” See more here.
Defend Our Juries campaigners arrested outside Crown Court despite Trudi Warner case
Back in April a High Court judge threw out the case against Trudi Warner, a climate activist who was charged with contempt for holding a placard reminding jurors of their right to acquit based on conscience. Judge Hehir, the same as that responsible for the extensive sentencing, instructed police to arrest the 11 members of Defend Our Juries despite the actions of the High Court, labelling them ‘trouble-makers’.
Full Fact calls on Labour to ‘restore trust in politics’
Full Fact is calling on Labour to improve standards across public and political life and to restore trust in politics. To do this, they’re suggesting that Labour makes the ministerial code statuary, that they improve parliamentary mechanisms to better hold MPs to account, and that they increase resources for media literacy to help the public spot misinformation more effectively.
Deteriorating state of civic freedoms signal failure of SDGs, say CIVICUS
The annual High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is taking place, CIVICUS report. At the forum, states report on their implementation of the 17 goals meant to bring ‘peace and prosperity for all’. But the SDGs are badly off track, not least SDG16, which includes commitments to protecting fundamental rights — Read on.
CIVICUS also calls for the new UK Government to respect civic space and reset relationships with civil society, calling this a ‘chance for change’.
Post-election analysis & feedback
July 4th most disproportionate election on record, say Electoral Reform Society
Electoral Reform Society has called July 4th the most disproportionate election on record after Labour won 64% of available seats on just 34% of the vote. Meanwhile, Reform UK and the Green Party — both supporters of electoral reform — won just 9 seats between them with a combined vote share of over 20% — check out below how the election results would have looked under PR. Meanwhile, Compass, Make Votes Matter and Unlock Democracy have launched a joint online petition to call for an end to the current voting system.
Two thirds of public felt informed enough to make their decision on July 4th, according to Demos
Polling conducted by Demos found that 65% of the electorate felt they were informed enough to make their decision on July 4th, with 46% saying the manifestos helped them decide and 39% saying the TV debates helped. Meanwhile, a quarter of voters said they had avoided talking about politics because they didn’t feel they understood it well enough — something most acutely felt amongst Gen Z voters where the number rose to 41%.
Voter turnout at general election was worst on record since 2001
Analysis from Vote for Policies reveals how just 51.6% of eligible voters cast their ballot on July 4th (graph below), making it the lowest turnout since 2001, and the second lowest since 1918. A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research — Half of Us — discusses the poor voter turnout in greater depth and outlines four possible pathways for increasing participation at future elections.
Glitch celebrate most black women ever elected to Parliament
July 4th marked an historic moment for UK political diversity with the election of the highest proportion of Black women ever in parliament. Seventeen Black women were elected in total across Labour, Conservative, and the Scottish Greens. Glitch celebrated the news but said they remained concerned however by the ‘lack of support, prevention and action to stop the abuse Black women candidates and MPs faced during their campaigns.’
Democracy Volunteers produce final report on the 2024 General Election
Democracy Volunteers deployed more than 200 observers, experts and support staff during the election to more than 204 constituencies, attending 1,173 polling stations, observing polling venue processes and monitoring the integrity of the process, for every polling station, witnessing more than 20,289 voters. This report shares their feedback and recommendations following this work — Read the report.
Campaign Lab to host election results review event in London
The Election Results Review special event being organised by Campaign Lab will feature Paula Surridge, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol, and Christabel Cooper, Director of Research at Labour Together, as panel speakers. It bodes for an interesting evening — sign up now.
Home Secretary lambasts ‘disgraceful’ intimidation of political candidates in election
The new Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has announced she will chair a new Defending Democracy Taskforce, in response to ‘the growth of US-style aggressive confrontation and intimidation’ in British politics throughout the election, highlighting the fear that such behaviours could fuel further political murders, such as those of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess in 2016 and 2021.
The Democracy Network’s Power & Voice Lead Helen Wishart also highlighted the discrimination and attacks on minoritised candidates during the election period in their recent blog.
400,000 may have been prevented from voting, according to poll
A survey by More in Common found that 3.2% of voters were turned away at least once from a polling station on July 4th for lacking an appropriate ID, with minority ethnic groups more than twice as likely to have been affected. Reflected across the UK, that would mean 850,000 had been turned away at some point, with large numbers reporting they did not return to try again.
Association of Electoral Administrators welcomes plans to strengthen integrity of elections
The King announced new measures in their parliamentary address to ‘strengthen the integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process’. Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, Peter Stanyon, said members looked forward to hearing concrete details of the plans but cautioned that any changes must be taken well in advance of the next election to avoid confusion.
Reform UK win second place in student election run by Association of Citizenship Teaching
During the General Election, the Association of Citizenship Teaching (ACT) ran a ‘Parallel Election’ in which nearly 30,000 students in schools across the country cast their vote. Labour won the election with 32.1% of the vote, whilst the Conservatives dropped to fifth place on just 8.3%. Meanwhile, Reform secured second place with 18.8%.
See you next time,
James, Max and the UK Democracy Network team