Could a simple change to the laws on voting make society fairer?

It might seem an odd time to raise this question, with no major elections due for years, but democracy is in trouble. The patient is deteriorating. Disaffection is spreading and figures like Nigel Farage, Rupert Lowe and Tommy Robinson are ever-vigilant to ways they can use it to deepen division.

Changing the law around voting wouldn’t, by itself, solve the underlying causes of that disaffection. But what if it were part of the solution? What if the discontent of so many voters were at least partly due to the current system making it too easy for politicians to ignore them?

Turnouts in UK elections are just too low for the system to be said truly to represent the will of the people. Every time John Swinney or Nicola Sturgeon have claimed the right to speak for the people of Scotland based on their electoral “wins”, they’ve been doing so backed by a remarkably small number of voters. In May, the SNP was returned to government with 57 constituency seats (and one list seat). What proportion of those who voted backed the SNP in the constituency ballot? Some 38.2 per cent. But what proportion of the population overall backed the SNP – that is, registered voters including those who didn’t actually cast a ballot? Just 20%.

Read more by Rebecca McQuillan

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Certain groups – young people, those struggling the most to make ends meet and those from ethnic minorities – are not turning out to vote........

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