Abuse and intimidation undermines our democracy – the Elections Bill can help change that
4 min read
No one should have to risk their safety to participate in public life. But this is what is happening across the UK – and it’s having a devastating impact on our democracy.
As a politician and as part of my work at The Jo Cox Foundation, I hear – from those across the political spectrum at different levels of politics – time and time again that experiencing some level of abuse or intimidation is an ‘expected’ or ‘normal’ part of everyday political life.
The problem is reflected in data. The parliamentary Speakers Conference on abuse and intimidation of MPs and election candidates, found that 96 per cent of current MPs have personally experienced one or more incidents of threatening behaviour or communication since they began working as an MP. The Local Government Association shows that 72 per cent of councillors have experienced abuse or intimidation, which rises to 84 per cent for women and ethnic minorities, and 85 per cent for the LGBT+ community and disabled respondents.
Abuse and intimidation is undermining our democracy. Many people active in politics don’t feel safe enough to participate fully and freely. The Electoral Commission found that over half of the 2024 general and local election candidates who responded to its survey had avoided certain political activities, such as speaking about certain policy issues or participating in hustings, due to fear of abuse. People are put off entering politics and some have decided the risks are too high to continue participating.
Fortunately, there are solutions. The Jo Cox Civility Commission sets out many of them. And a key opportunity for the government to address abuse and intimidation is through the expected Elections Bill to be laid in Parliament soon - which will build on its strategy for modern and secure elections.
We call for action to ensure respectful elections, through: embedding standards of conduct; making personal addresses private by default; addressing online harms; disseminating candidate safety resources; and promoting political, digital and media literacy.
The bill is an opportunity to introduce mechanisms to improve transparency and accountability for standards of conduct. For example, political parties could be required to publish codes of conduct and implementation procedures as part of their registration with The Electoral Commission.
We strongly support the proposal of the removal of requirements of candidates' home addresses to be published in the Notice of Election Agents. We advocate the change goes further to make it mandatory practice not to publish any candidate or agent’s home addresses on any campaign materials.
Online harms, including mis- and disinformation, and gendered abuse, threaten the integrity of our elections. We support calls including from Demos and Full Fact – where I am also a trustee – to clarify and update rules to deal with political deepfakes. We support the Online Safety Act Network’s proposal to introduce a duty on Ofcom, in consultation with others, to produce a code of practice for social media platforms to address potential harms during the electoral process.
Guidance on safety for candidates and campaigners safety should be reviewed and improved and also be widely disseminated so all campaigners are aware of available resources. For example, the Electoral Commission could have the responsibility and resources to share guidance directly with candidates shortly after candidate registration.
The bill, especially the proposal to extend the franchise to 16 year olds, presents a crucial opportunity to embed political, digital and media literacy as a core part of our culture – in schools and beyond. For example, we recommend political literacy materials be part of automated voter registration to embed an understanding of the electoral process.
Alongside this, my colleagues at The Jo Cox Foundation will continue to champion a more respectful politics, where everyone can safely and fully participate in politics – which, in my view, is as important as demonstrating proper campaign finance practices.
Baroness Royall is a Labour and Co-operative peer, and chair of The Jo Cox Foundation
