Why we should resist voter fatigue

It feels as though there has been a surfeit of politics in our lives lately. Since 2015 the North has endured the outcome of an astonishing general election, the fractious EU referendum last summer, and a round of local elections. This year that binge of box-crossing is followed by even more local elections, inaugural Metro Mayoral contests in Greater Manchester and Liverpool as part of their devolution deals, and now (ugh) another general election.

Elections haven’t exactly been quiet on the global news front either. We’ve had a worldwide shockwave in the election of Donald Trump. On the continent, Austria chose its first ever Green leader, Alexander Van der Bellen. And at the time of going to press, we're waiting to find out which brave new world the voters of France will enter after dismissing their main left and right parties at the polls [good news: Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen by more than 30 percentage points].

It is as though politics has taken over, as though we have reached saturation point. Thanks to a 24/7 media we are now hyper-aware of elections and the depths of their ramifications. As a political activist myself, who gets embarrassingly excited by the prospect of discussing voting systems and swing seats, even I’m growing weary of it. When faced with this bombardment of invitations to put your paper in the ballot box, it’s hard to resist the urge to hide under the covers and feel that these constant votes are somehow making us more divided.

Political burnout

The irony here is that politicians are often portrayed as aloof arrivistes, distant from everyday life. Now they’re pitching up on our doorsteps and we’re getting even more sick of them. Could the situation be creating fatigue and burnout to the point where we risk switching off at the very moment we should be more engaged?

We need to remember that all this engagement actually offers an unprecedented opportunity. As maddening as it is that Brexit has taken over public life recently, and is likely to do so for years to come, it is surely healthier that way than having such a crucial process be undertaken without scrutiny. We may never again be asked to express our opinion so often.

There are of course many places in the world where people struggle to get asked at all. The voting system we have in the UK may be terribly flawed – last year’s referendum even more so – but at least it indicates a system that resembles democracy.

How to make things better?

This endless voting might even improve our awareness locally, making us more knowledgeable about the problems we face and how selecting our representatives offers us different ways of solving them. For example, the mayoral election in Greater Manchester has flown under the radar for many but has caused some great debate around the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, the city’s housing plan for the next 20 years, touching upon issues such as jobs, climate change and homelessness.

We should use this chance to inform ourselves of the political situation and share that conversation throughout our communities. It’s obvious that people are struggling up and down the North – what ideas do we have to make lives better? 

Now that we’re talking to one another about the Big Questions again – across our regions and across the world – we have to work to keep it that way. As politicians love to say: it’s our choice.