Category: Blog

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How the Government can transform voter registration to increase democratic equality

Ellen Berry, Head of the UK Democracy Fund, celebrates the success of the Fund’s grantees in encouraging voter registration amongst those least likely to be engaged in voting ahead of last year’s General Election.

She also explains how the Fund is leading calls to improve voter registration to build a voting system fit for the 21st century…

 

Through the incredible efforts of our grantee community, the UK Democracy Fund estimates that together we registered nearly three quarters of a million voters ahead of the 2024 General Election.

 

Fund grantees piloted models of community engagement for Black voters; worked through schools, colleges and Universities; engaged young people online through youth-led campaigns; organised in migrant communities; worked through churches, mosques, employers and trusted brands.

 

Despite these and other efforts, at the 2024 General Election, long-term trends in voter disengagement culminated in record low turnout, with the second lowest UK general election turnout since universal suffrage was introduced.

 

Research shows that this lack of participation was not evenly shared across the population. Constituencies with a higher proportion of younger people, renters, people from racialised and minoritised ethnicities, or Muslim voters, had lower turnout. The result is democratic inequality.

 

In a response to The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the 2024 election, the UK Democracy Fund demonstrated why without a change to our registration process, this inequality is likely to increase. We showed that the work of our grantees is effective, but too resource intensive to close the up-to-8-million-person voter registration gap.

 

The good news is that the Government has committed in their manifesto to improve voter registration, and recently committed to publish their approach to electoral registration before summer recess.

 

Professors Toby James and Paul Bernal have laid out in their March 2025 report for the UK Democracy Fund how the Government can deliver on their commitment. Automatic or direct voter registration is an effective solution to address democratic inequality, improve the accuracy and completeness of the register, respect voters’ privacy and could save money. Automatic voter registration will also be essential for the success of the Government’s welcome plan to extend the franchise to 1.5 million young voters aged 16 and 17.

 

Legislation on elections is expected in the next Parliamentary session, and the Government has an opportunity to build a voting system fit for the 21st century which ensures that all potential voters voices are heard.

 

Words: Ellen Berry, UK Democracy Fund

Image: Edmond Dantes, Pexels

 

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Our Grantee and Applicant Survey

In late 2024, we invited grantees and applicants of JRRT, the UK Democracy Fund and JRSST-CT to share their views – anonymously – about our application processes, grant making and strategic priorities via our survey.

 

Chief Executive Fiona Weir introduces some of the findings of the survey in her blog below and describes our next steps in responding to the valuable insights shared.

 

You can also download the full survey report here 

 

It’s hard to exaggerate how much we value the feedback and rich insights from the 110 of you who responded to our 2024 survey (59% is a good response rate!).

 

You told us about your organisations, what you think of us, our grant application processes, the Democracy Network, and what you think our strategic priorities should be going forward. The responses are fascinating so please do read further.

 

36% (46% JRRT) of respondents were non-charitable campaign groups; 32% (23% JRRT) charities. 10% said “yes” to their primary focus being racial justice; and 18.5% said that their organisation is Black or minority-ethnic led (as defined by the Funders for Race Equality Alliance).

 

We held our breath a bit to see what negative feedback might come through in an anonymous survey… but were delighted at how overwhelmingly positive the feedback was. Thank you! The Board and the staff team really appreciated this.

 

It’s important not just to publish the responses but to also tell you how we are using them to inform our work.

 

At the Democracy Network Summit in Sheffield in February, I highlighted the data on size of organisations by turnover – 32% of respondents have low income, less than £100k pa.   53% of respondents put “growing and diversifying income” top of the list for capacity building needs.  “Working to bring other funders towards the democracy space” was your clear first choice for JRRT direct activity priorities. In the open responses, a number of grantees raised the need for multiyear funding. We are looking hard at what we can do as part of live strategy discussions.

 

Over half of grantees (55%) understand JRRT strategy well, UK Democracy Fund 70% and JRSST-CT 46%. We’d like this to be much higher, so we are thinking through how we communicate the new strategy in June and how we reinforce that regularly.

 

The application process was rated positive for speed (85%) and ease (75%). 29% of applicants reported feeling pressure to modify priorities – partly offset by 87% of grantees feeling comfortable approaching us if there is a problem.  Alongside scope for improving feedback and discussions about reports, there is food for thought which the team is working through so we can improve our processes.

 

Finally, we have shared the responses on the Democracy Network with their staff to supplement work they are doing on the state of the sector and future role of the Network. Only 39% of respondents are members so do click here to find out more about the Democracy Network!

 

Both the JRRT and JRSST-CT Boards received the full survey responses ahead of strategy development sessions in York in late March. We have also reflected on research, policy, polling and citizen engagement by the sector in recent years and what we have heard from you at conferences, retreats and learning events over the last year.

 

This includes your input to the survey question: Can you tell us what you think our priorities should be, and why? Across the three entities there was solid support for many of the issues we have been prioritising to date. JRRT’s focus on “Open and accountable government”, JRSST-CT’s focus on “Informed and engaged citizens”, and UK Democracy Fund’s focus on “Voter participation and system reform” were each rated highly, as were two issues not included in the 2020 survey: “Trust in politics” and “Countering support for populist and extremist policies” – both of these reflecting long-term threats to democracy in the UK and the challenge of building democratic resilience.

 

We plan to finalise and communicate our new strategy and funding priorities before the end of June and look forward to talking to many of you about how we take this forward.

 

Fiona Weir

Chief Executive JRRT & JRSST-CT

 

Downloads

Report of the survey findings 

And you can also download the full text of all the open responses given to the survey for each entity using these links:

 

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Nominate now! SMK Awards 2025

The SMK National Campaigner Awards are back for 2025!

Each year, SMK celebrates the best campaigns and campaigners. Their interest is in finding those who have made change happen – most effectively, creatively and courageously.

That change might be in law or policy; it might be in attitudes, social norms or behaviour; it could be in how services are provided, or in the protection of a service or asset.

What all entries will have in common is the determination to secure a specific change that will make things better – whether for an individual, a local neighbourhood or for every single one of us.

And nominations are now open! 

 

David & Goliath Award

JRRT is proud to sponsor the David & Goliath category of the SMK Awards. This Award is all about the little guys. It celebrates individuals or small campaign groups that take on much bigger organisations and challenge vested power.

Our sponsorship is made in memory of our friend and former Director, Lord David Shutt.

 

Previous winners of the David & Goliath Award have included:

2024

The Justice For Omisha Campaign; one family and their community taking on the Home Office’s hostile environment immigration system and fighting for an NHS that is free to provide universal healthcare for all.

 

 

2023

Power for People‘s Community Energy Revolution campaign which co-ordinated grassroots advocacy across the UK for the Local Electricity Bill.

The Bill, if enacted, would empower community energy schemes to sell their clean energy back to their community. Their campaign gathered cross-party support from more than 300 MPs.

 

2022

A group of CYA and some of their supporters travelling to Facebook HQ in London. Photo credit: Slawomir Furgalski

The #FacebookHasNoStandards campaign from Coventry Youth Activists which sought to change the way disability hate and ableism is handled by social media platforms.

 

 

Nominate your top campaign for the David & Goliath Award now!

 

Nominations close on Friday 28 February 2025 at 5pm. 

 

Check out details of all of the SMK Award categories on the SMK website

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Evidence and Good Practice on Lowering the Voting Age to 16

In January 2025, the UK Democracy Fund published Evidence and Good Practice on Lowering the Voting Age to 16.

Ellen Berry, Head of the UK Democracy Fund, explains more about the research and recommendations in this blog post.

 

Written by Dr Christine Huebner, University of Sheffield & Dr Jan Eichhorn, University of Edinburgh, the briefing summarises key evidence on the outcomes of lowering the voting age to 16 from countries that have extended the franchise to younger people, and provides an overview of emerging evidence on what is important in the implementation and delivery of voting age reform in the UK.

 

International evidence consistently demonstrates that extending the franchise to young people from the age of 16 can increase their overall participation in democracy, and that there are no notable negative outcomes for young people or society more broadly. Research shows that young people are able to select who they vote for in the same way as other voters, with the same standard of decision making as older adults.

Votes at 16 has the potential, however, to challenge inequalities in participation and improve attitudes to democracy.

  • Votes at 16 can counter low voting amongst other demographics, having positive impacts on democratic equality and addressing low turnout.
  • There is some evidence that it can impact young people’s attitudes towards democracy and its responsiveness to their needs.
  • Evidence from Scotland shows that once the voting age was lowered, the policy became significantly more popular amongst older generations.

 

For franchise extension to reach its full potential, the below recommendations will be an important part of implementation:

  • Young people in Scotland and Wales currently have the right to vote in some elections. However, comprehensive franchise extension across all elections is more impactful.
  • Full inclusion for young people as democratic actors is an important part of implementation. Political parties can do more to engage young people, and they should be included in political debates and media coverage.
  • To take advantage of their new voting rights, young people must be on the electoral register. Currently 16- and 17-year-olds are registered at only 16%. Introducing automatic voter registration, adding young people to the register when they receive their National Insurance number at 16, would address this.
  • Considering the types of ID 16- and 17-year-olds tend to have will also be important as the Government reviews the Voter ID policy.
  • Access to good quality democratic education for young people is important. The Department of Education’s curriculum review provides an opportunity to address this, but it is not necessary for Votes at 16 to be delayed until the education issue is addressed.

 

Cover image of UK Democracy Fund briefing: Evidence and Good Practice on Lowering the Voting Age to 16Download the full briefing report here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Header image: Jane Campbell, Shutterstock

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Winners of SMK Awards 2024

Each year, JRRT sponsors the David & Goliath category at the SMK National Campaigner Awards in memory of former Chair Lord David Shutt. It celebrates individuals or small campaign groups that take on much bigger organisations and challenge vested power.

 

This year’s winners were revealed in May 2024. The top campaign in the David & Goliath category was The Justice For Omisha Campaign; one family and their community taking on the Home Office’s hostile environment immigration system and fighting for an NHS that is free to provide universal healthcare for all.

 

Congratulations to them, and to the shortlisted campaigns: Fawcett Society versus The Sun and Sustainable Farming Campaign from Sustain.

 

You can watch the full awards ceremony here:

And discover all the nominees and winners in all of the Awards can be explored on the SMK website here.

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Transparency, Diversity and Accountability – The Foundation Practice Rating 2023

JRRT is one of 13 funders supporting the Foundation Practice Rating, an initiative led by Friends Provident Foundation to improve practices of Trusts and Foundations on transparency, accountability and diversity.  Each year 100 of the UK’s biggest foundations are assessed, including the funders associated with the initiative.

 

Our results

In year 2, JRRT’s overall rating remains unchanged at B.  Our rating for diversity is C, accountability B (up from C the year before) and transparency A.  Within these we have made improvements on accountability and diversity.

 

DiversityAccountabilityTransparencyOverall rating
Year 2CBAB
Year 1CCAB

 

The limited improvements reflect work by the staff team.  We aim to make further changes this year, including three commitments sparked by the campaign to prompt participating Trusts to make pledges to improve.

 

Our pledges

This year, we plan to:

 

Year 2 report launched

The Foundation Practice Rating launched the full report into the Year 2 findings across the 100 sampled organisations in March 2023.

You can download the report from their website.

 

And watch the report launch event below:

 

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JRRT: Accredited Living Wage Funder

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust is proud to be recently accredited as a Living Wage Funder. We have joined more than 50 other funders in committing to tackle low pay by championing the real Living Wage.

The real Living Wage is a voluntary, hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.  The Living Wage rates are re-calculated every autumn by the Living Wage Commission.

It is currently calculated as £12.60 per hour UK-wide and £13.85 per hour in London (2025 figures).

Ranging from local authorities to charitable trusts and foundations, corporate, science and capital funders, Living Wage Funders are working hard to tackle social injustice and poverty.

As part of our commitment, we encourage our grantees to ensure that all posts which are wholly or partially funded by us pay the real Living Wage (unless there are particular reasons for this not to happen). And we engage with our applicants early in the grant application process to ask them to cost up their proposals accordingly.

Fiona Weir, JRRT CEO said, “JRRT’s accreditation as a Living Wage Funder reflects our core values. As a Trust, we support organisations seeking to address imbalances of power; becoming a Living Wage Funder and encouraging all our grantees to pay the real Living Wage is a commitment that we are proud to promote.”

Organisations do not need to be accredited Living Wage Employers to apply to JRRT, but we do encourage organisations to consider whether this is a possibility for them. You can find out more about the scheme, including how to apply, on the Living Wage Foundation website.

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Introducing: Involve and the Network for Democracy

JRRT is today announcing that it has agreed a three-year grant award of £350,000 to Involve to set up a Democracy Network, which includes a contribution of £50,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) to the first year of this new initiative.

In 2020, we commissioned Networking for Democracy, an analysis of sector needs and perspectives. It concludes that building better connections within and outside the sector is a priority capacity building need; and that there is a good case and support for building a “network”.

Following on from this work, and having reached out to groups and individuals working in the democracy space to craft a Call for Proposals, we are thrilled to announce that Involve has been commissioned to take forward work on incubating, expanding and coordinating a Network for Democracy over the next three years.

Involve is the UK’s public participation charity with a vision of a more vibrant democracy, with people at the heart of decision-making. They recognise that the democracy sector is made up of a great diversity of groups and organisations across the country. Work to develop the network will begin from June, with three aims in mind:

  • Connecting: Developing a trusted, strong, diverse and well-functioning democracy network, with high engagement in network activities and an expanding reach to new groups;
  • Information sharing and capacity building: Increasing the knowledge, skills, resources and impact of members; and,
  • Vision and influence: Expanding the collective influence of the network and its members, including receiving increased media and political attention.

Tim Hughes from Involve explains: “The initial focus of activities will be on co-developing the network with people from across the democracy sector and exploring how the network can help to support and boost the impact of existing initiatives. Ultimately, we want to build a broad and diverse coalition of people passionate about democracy that reaches far and wide across the country, and enables us to collectively shape our democratic future.”

Fiona Weir, CEO of JRRT, says: “The growing collaboration across the democracy sector is encouraging and vital given the multiple and serious challenges to democracy today. JRRT is making a multi-year commitment to funding a Democracy Network to strengthen efforts in this space. 

We were impressed by Involve’s commitment to an open and co-creative approach that will build trust and sustain collaboration, alongside their grasp of how a network could add value to existing initiatives, building the collective power and influence of the sector.”

Katharine Knox, JRCT Power and Accountability Programme Manager says: “We are delighted to be supporting the establishment of this new initiative to build collaboration in the democracy sector. The challenges we are facing in relation to democratic accountability at this time in the UK warrant supporting the sector to pull together to maximise information sharing, coordination and connections to increase the sector’s influence. We look forward to working with JRRT and Involve in the year ahead.”

Get involved

To stay in touch with the  Democracy Network and help to shape its development, please sign up here.

Or get in touch via DemocracyNetwork@involve.org.uk 

Regular updates on the activities and events of the Network for Democracy can be seen in the free monthly sector newsletter, Democracy Action. Subscribe here today!

 

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A statement from JRRT on the origins of our endowments

For more than a century, the JRRT Board and staff have been inspired by Joseph Rowntree’s pioneering social reforms in York and determination to get to the heart of the underlying causes of injustice and inequality.

Last year, the Black Lives Matters protests and the disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic led to a renewed focus on racial injustice and inequalities and prompted us to reflect on our history and on the origins of our endowments, something we should have done earlier.

Today, the Rowntree Society is publishing findings – here – of a preliminary research project setting out connections between the Rowntree Company and systems and enslavement and forced labour. The three Trusts Joseph Rowntree set up in 1904 are each publishing statements in response:

We are deeply sorry that the origins of our endowments are rooted in practices that have caused suffering and enduring harm.

We find ourselves at the start of a journey to build a new legacy, one that embeds race equality within our work to address political inequality. We are committed to increasing the racial diversity of our organisations, governance and networks, and to ensuring our grant making and programmes do more to tackle the underlying causes of racial injustice and political inequality today.   We don’t yet know what this will look like or how to build the connections we will need. We know that listening to the voices of black and minority ethnic people must shape this work and that we need to be open to challenge.

As a small first step we are publishing an audit of our grants, which you can see here. Transparency will enable us to be accountable for the progress we make.

Fiona Weir

Chief Executive, JRRT

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UK Democracy Map

 

JRRT’s work is driven by a concern that the ongoing erosion of trust in the political class and our democratic institutions is creating a moment of crisis for democracy. For a long time, JRRT has been interested in getting a better understanding of who is working on democracy issues and how.

One of the top priorities from the survey we conducted of our grantees last year was a better understanding of who was campaigning on what democracy issues. With that in mind, we commissioned Koreo to create the UK Democracy Map. This exciting initiative is intended to assist those working or campaigning on democracy, by helping people find each other, making their work more visible and promoting collaboration and information-sharing. Please share it far and wide and encourage those who work on democracy to add their details.

There is a taxonomy to draw on, to help describe work on democracy. This was created following Koreo’s discussions with many democracy campaigners. There is also a report Mapping the Democracy Movement, describing how the map was developed.

 

Developing the map

We are very keen to see the UK Democracy Map grow as a response to the needs of the sector.

Whether you are a funder, think tank, academic institution, single-issue campaign, empowering young people through political and media literacy, seeking to improve the digital public space, encouraging more people to get involved in decision-making, or working on one of the many other aspects of democracy, please do add yourself to the map.

As you can see, democracy work comes in all shapes and sizes, not all of them obvious. Part of the job of the map is to help people realise they are not alone in wanting people to be able to take better and more informed decisions about their lives, who represents us, and the way our communities are governed.

If you have thoughts on how the map can be refined, improved and promoted, or simply wish to discuss the work of your organisation with JRRT, please get in touch.

 

Photo by Leah Kelley from Pexels