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Audit of Political Engagement 7 HSAudit2010_8mmSpine_Layout 1 10/02/2010 14:10 Page 1 AUDIT Audit ofof Political Political OF POLITICAL Audit of Political Engagement 2008 7 The 5th Report ENGAGEMENT Engagement 7 The 2010 Report with a special focus on the Constitution with a focus on MPs and Parliament The 2010 Report 7 with a focus on MPs and Parliament The annual Audit of Political Engagement has made an invaluable contribution to the debate about the public’s view of the political process since it was first published in 2004. Against a backdrop of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the worst economic crisis since the second world war and the MPs’ expenses scandal, each yearly Audit has measured the pulse of the nation on politics and the political system providing a benchmark against which it is possible to chart areas of continuity and change. Audit 7 includes a special focus on MPs and Parliament, exploring how the expenses scandal affected public perceptions of the political system, Parliament and MPs themselves. This report is a valuable source of information and debate for all those who are concerned with the health of our democratic system. The Hansard Society is the UK’s leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity. We aim to strengthen parliamentary democracy and THE encourage greater public involvement in politics. 2010 www.hansardsociety.org.uk REPORT ISBN: 978 0900432 49 1 HSAudit2010_8mmSpine_Layout 1 10/02/2010 14:10 Page 2 Audit of Political Hansard Society The Hansard Society is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity. We aim to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public Engagement 2008 involvement in politics. Co-Presidents: Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon the Baroness The 5th Report Hayman, Lord Speaker. Vice Presidents: Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Rt Hon David Cameron MP, a special focus on the Constitution Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP. Council: Peter Riddell (Chair), Andrew Lansley CBE MP (Vice Chair), Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE (Vice Chair), Lord Tyler (Vice Chair), John Sharkey (Hon Treasurer), Roshana Arasaratnam (Asst Hon Treasurer), Richard Allan, Laurence Bard, Dianne Bevan, Edward Bickham, Dawn Butler MP, Rob Clements, Mark D’Arcy, Hilton Dawson, Paul Evans, Prof Ivor Gaber, Oonagh Gay, Gavin Grant, Andy Hamflett, Prof Robert Hazell, Sheena McDonald, Joyce McMillan, Floyd Millen, Austin Mitchell MP, Prof Lord Norton of Louth, Gerald Shamash. The Hansard Society has five main programmes of work: Citizenship Education, Parliament and Government, eDemocracy, Study and Scholars and Hansard Society Scotland. The Hansard Society also produces the well-established academic quarterly Parliamentary Affairs in association with Oxford University Press. As a registered charity, the Hansard Society relies on funding from individual donations, grants from charitable trusts and foundations, corporate sponsorship, and donations from individual parliamentarians from Westminster and the devolved institutions who contribute to our Parliamentary Patrons scheme. Our network of members and supporters come from all major political parties and from the public, private and third sectors. Those who support and work with us do so because we are independent and non-partisan, and our projects and programmes of work have genuinely made a difference to the democratic processes in the UK and beyond. Recently, Hansard Society projects and activities have been funded and supported by: BBC Parliament Learning and Teaching Scotland Bircham Dyson Bell LLP Luath British Bankers’ Association McGrigors LLP Text and graphics © Hansard Society 2010 British Council Scotland Microsoft Clifford Chance Ministry of Justice Published by the Hansard Society, 40-43 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1JA ComRes National Assembly for Wales Corporation of London Nuffield Foundation Tel: 020 7438 1222. Fax: 020 7438 1229. Email: [email protected] DLA Piper Open Society Foundation Department for Children, Schools and Families Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored Department of Energy and Climate Change Parliamentary Education Service in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, without the E.ON UK Political Studies Association prior permission of the Hansard Society. Educational Institute of Scotland PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Ellwood & Atfield Sciencewise The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. The Hansard Society, as an independent, non-party organisation, is happy to Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scotland Office invite analysis and discussion of these views. FTI Consulting Scottish Enterprise House of Commons Scottish Parliament For more information about other Hansard Society publications visit our House of Lords Standard Life website at www.hansardsociety.org.uk IBM UK Ltd The Electoral Commission IDeA UK Office of the European Parliament Cover design by Ann Watson-Thomas at www.annexdesign.co.uk Law Society of Scotland Woodnewton Associates Sub-editing by Virginia Gibbons Design & layout by Impress Print Services Printed and bound in Great Britain by Impress Print Services Cover image and internal illustrations: Mona Petre For further information visit our website at www.hansardsociety.org.uk 57484_Hansard:Text 18/2/10 17:58 Page 1 Audit of Political Engagement 7 The 2010 Report with a focus on MPs and Parliament Hansard Society 57484_Hansard:Text 18/2/10 17:58 Page 2 57484_Hansard:Text 18/2/10 17:58 Page 3 Contents Table of Figures iii Preface 1 Executive summary 3 1. About this report 9 2. The political context 13 3. End of a Parliament, end of a decade: the Audit lifecycle 23 A. Knowledge B. Interest C. Present system of governance D. Duty to vote E. Involvement F. Political and civic participation G. Satisfaction with Parliament and MPs H. Trust in politicians I. The impact of Parliament J. The impact of other institutions 4. MPs’ expenses: the public reaction 31 5. Public perception of MPs, Parliament and the media 35 6. Improving political engagement 45 7. The engagement indicators and survey results 61 A. Knowledge and interest Perceived knowledge of politics Political knowledge quiz Knowledge of MPs, the Westminster Parliament and local councils Interest in politics Interest in issues – local and national B. Action and participation 72 Propensity to vote Duty to vote Discussing politics Politically active Online activity: Facebook and Twitter i 57484_Hansard:Text 18/2/10 17:58 Page 4 C. Efficacy and satisfaction 85 Perceived political efficacy Perceived efficacy of voting Present system of governing Satisfaction with Parliament and MPs Trust in politicians Satisfaction with media coverage of politics D. MPs and Parliament 90 Politicians’ motives How MPs should and do spend their time Pride in politics as a career Perceptions of the Westminster Parliament The impact of Parliament and other institutions on people’s lives 8. Demographic and sub-group differences: the complexity of public attitudes 99 A. Gender B. Age C. Social class D. Ethnicity E. Scotland and Wales F. Marginal seats 9. Audit series indicator graphs 107 Appendices 111 A. Quantitative survey methodology B. Audit of Political Engagement (APE) Poll topline findings C. Engagement profiles D. Qualitative research methodology E. Discussion group guide Acknowledgements This report was produced by Dr Ruth Fox, Virginia Gibbons and Matt Korris with assistance from Fiona Booth, Amy Drake, Josh Niderost, Dr Diana Stirbu and Dr Andy Williamson. The Hansard Society is grateful to the House of Commons and the Ministry of Justice for supporting this project. We have benefited greatly from the advice provided by Arianna Haberis (Head of Empowerment and Participation Research, Communities Analysis Division, Department for Communities and Local Government) and Dr Rachel Harker (Social and General Statistics Division, House of Commons Library) in the latter stages of the project and thank them for their support. We would also like to thank Graham Keilloh, Dr Roger Mortimore, George Margesson, and Chris Phillips of Ipsos MORI and Mark Gill and James Humphreys of Woodnewton Associates for their assistance with this report. Finally, our thanks to Mona Petre for the front cover design, ‘Parliament under repair’. ii 57484_Hansard:Text 18/2/10 17:58 Page 5 Table of Figures Figure 1: The core indicators 24 Figure 2: Present system of governing – historical 27 Figure 3: Present system of governing – impact of the MPs’ expenses controversy 32 Figure 4: Views and knowledge of Parliament 41 Figure 5: The political engagement journey 50 Figure 6: Political engagement profiles 51 Figure 7: Political engagement profiles – voting patterns 57 Figure 8: Political engagement profiles – the voting gap 58 Figure 9: Perceived knowledge of politics 62 Figure 10: Perceived knowledge of politics – demographic differences 62 Figure 11: Knowledge of politics – political quiz 64 Figure 12: Political quiz – demographic differences 65 Figure 13: Knowledge of politics – claimed vs. actual 67 Figure 14: Knowledge of politics, council, Parliament and MPs 68 Figure 15: Interest in politics 69 Figure 16: Interest in politics – demographic differences 70 Figure 17: Interest in politics, local and national issues 71 Figure 18: Propensity to vote – demographic differences 73 Figure 19: Duty to vote 74 Figure 20: Duty to vote vs. Certainty to vote 76 Figure 21: Discussing politics 78 Figure 22: Discussing politics vs. MPs’ expenses 79 Figure
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