A battle of politics versus democracy

We are now just two weeks away from the General Election and I have no shame in confessing that I personally find the run up to national elections quite uncomfortable and frustrating periods of time as we see our national democratic values go into battle with a series of political tribes.

Norwich Theatre is a registered charity and so, like anyone else who leads a charity, I am bound by the Charity Commission’s very clear guidance through its governance code that “charities must never stray into party politics”.

I know how much this annoys some of my colleagues elsewhere in the arts sector who see this as a form of censorship. For those regularly funded by Arts Council England, which doesn’t include Norwich Theatre, ACE recently issued some of its sternest guidance yet to try and keep those organisations on the straight and narrow in this regard.

For my own part, it’s a huge relief to run a charity and not to get dragged into this world. What the Charity Commission does welcome though is for charity leaders to “raise concerns about specific policies advocated by political parties” and I am more than happy to do that.

Our current political system, which is seemingly supporting by all parties is, it seems to me, constantly eroding the core democratic principles that we should be protecting at all costs.

The media coverage of this election demonstrates that, at this moment in our history, you don’t win an election by having the strongest values or best ideas but rather having the most money and power to best trash your opponent.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act in 2028, which granted equal voting rights to women and men, it is saddening to realise that political parties also win elections with strategies based as much on who doesn’t turn out to vote as those who do.

This is probably what frustrates me most but, don’t get me wrong, I will absolutely be casting a vote. What worries me is that we are developing a culture of disenfranchisement amongst young people through such toxic tribal politics.

Recent research published by the Duke of Edinburgh Award has starkly demonstrated this, suggesting that only 40% of young people eligible to vote are planning to do so. Disillusionment with our political system is the over-riding factor in these results that genuinely makes me fearful for the future of our democracy.

I have also had several conversations recently with ardent voters in older age groups whose values I respect enormously. They have hit a complete block in terms of what to do in the face of a broken system, and so have decided not to vote.

This is backed up by further research commissioned by Techne for Independent Media that suggest about one fifth of voting age Britons have already decided to stay away from polling stations this year, possibly leading to one of the lowest voter turnout results for a general election in history.

The Rock the Vote movement in the US is an amazing example of where artists and creatives come together at a moment of political campaigning to promote democracy.

I think our UK creative industries could more than replicate this by coming together and agreeing to rise above the politics.

Within this then, perhaps Arts Council England might also find a less clumsy directive to those it funds, based on what they should do with their public funding rather than what they shouldn’t, and direct all funded organisations to back a pro-democracy non-party political creative movement.

The work of the arts and cultural sector is about promoting pluralist opinion, diversity of thought, and rigorous debate.

To return to my starting point, my message would be don’t be marginalised; engage with the debate andour democracy, and whoever you vote for, go and vote.