Is it time to make voting compulsory?
Low turnout at elections allows anti-growth minorities to dictate policy. Diluting that by ensuring all eligible voices are heard equally would return the incentives to deliver for all in our economy, says Charles White
In 2024, Labour told the public: “Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. That is why it is Labour’s first mission for government.”
You are probably aware that things didn’t exactly pan out like that.
Growth was an aim keenly linked with building in the mind of Labour but in the face of a sceptical business community and a vocal minority of homeowners this ambition has floundered.
But hope is not lost on the path to growth. Instead of shutting down debate or ignoring the public, the government should embrace the whole electorate and truly unlock democracy, and with it, growth.
That’s the conclusion of the think tank Labour Together’s latest report. Citing the devastatingly low turnout at election time, the group sets out the problems of a disproportionately older, white, home owning voter class.
“Low and unequal turnout risks tilting the political playing field against pro-growth politics, and making it harder for governments that do deliver growth to be rewarded,” it claims.
Dr David Klemperer, the report’s author, adds: “older voters prioritise short-term consumption spending on pensions and healthcare over growth-driving social investments in education and childcare… [and] are far less likely to reward governments for delivering economic growth or high employment, or to punish them for failing to do so.”
An ever-narrowing electorate
The result is an ever-narrowing electorate which sets the policy motivations for our country. Diluting that by ensuring all eligible voices are heard equally would return the incentives to deliver for all in our economy.
Compulsory voting is the only way to guarantee this shift in electoral turnout. And the government is already creating the tools by which mandatory turnout can be introduced.
When Parliament returns this month, the Representation of the People Bill will finally become law and usher in Automatic Voter Registration.
Mandatory turnout would become both a practical possibility just as it remains an economic necessity.
If you want proof you can look to Australia, which introduced compulsory voting in 1924 and last entered a recession in the 1990s.
For politicians in Australia, ignoring younger voters who demand pro-growth measures like house building, simply isn’t an option. As the Australian Parliamentary Library states: “Australia’s is one of the most consistently high turnouts anywhere in the world – an average of 94.5 per cent in the 24 elections since 1946.”
The Australian Labor Party won reelection targeting not only its traditional base but also younger voters who were guaranteed by law to turnout.
This time last year, the Australian Minister for Housing, Clare O’Neil MP, said: “We’ve got a big goal to build 1.2m new homes in five years and to reach that we need to build homes in new ways – using methods like prefab we can build homes up to 50 per cent faster.
“I’ve got a pretty straight‑forward goal here – to make sure that ordinary, working class Australians can buy a home of their own.”
That clarity of mission sounds familiar. But unlike in the UK, the Australian Labor Party aren’t punished for their “Yes In My Back Yard” stance.
Compare that to the UK where an unrepresentative electorate terrifies local councillors and MPs away from pro-development measures.
We’ve learned to love Kylie Minogue, if not Vegemite, and trade A$35.9bn in goods and services. Maybe for the good of our economy, it’s time for us to embrace another Australian export?
Indeed the nightmare of building in the UK due to Nimby voters has meant the government is likely to miss its 1.5m new homes target. In fact, new houses built between 2024-2025 stood at just 208,600. This is down six per cent on the previous year and far below than the 300,000 the Government needs each year to reach its target.
That contrasts with the Australian Labor government which is on course to deliver the homes it promised. The Australian National Housing Supply and Affordability Council forecast Labor is on course to be within reach of its housing targets with 938,000 dwellings being completed during the period to June 2029.
And that’s all while the Australian Labor Party outpolls its nearest rival — a far-right populist group which has recently begun plateauing in the polls (sound familiar?). Starmer can learn a lot from Australia.
We’ve learned to love Kylie Minogue, if not Vegemite, and trade A$35.9bn in goods and services. Maybe for the good of our economy, it’s time for us to embrace another Australian export?
Charles White is the campaign manager for Campaign for Compulsory Voting