Paxman and Brand - Participation crisis in British politics

By Ben Mendelowitz


Following the Newsnight interview, where Russell Brand envisioned

himself as the philosopher of the “common people’’, there has been

much talk of the political participation ‘crisis.’

“…it’s not that I’m not voting out of apathy. I’m not voting out of absolute indifference and weariness and exhaustion from the lies, treachery, deceit of the political class, that has been going on for generations now. And which has now reached fever pitch where you have a disenfranchised, disillusioned, despondent underclass that are not being represented by that political system, so voting for it is tacit complicity with that system and that’s not something I’m offering up’’ Russell Brand on Newsnight

Yet some of the points both Paxman and Brand made in this interview

actually make sense and appeal-there is a huge sense of

disillusionment among the masses – since 1997 the turnout has never

been above 70%. In addition party membership has massively

declined with a mere 0.80% of the total electorate possessing party

membership. Under the ‘big’ words, the multimillionaire comedian, with a house in California, does make valid statements about the British political system:

 “At the next election we shall have a choice between the people who've given us five years of austerity, the people who left us this mess, and the people who signed public pledges that they wouldn't raise student fees, and then did so - the most blatant lie in recent political history”

In recent years, politicians have not offered any solutions to the problems of the modern world; they simply attempt to placate the population in attempts to direct people away from the erroneous job they’re doing.

From the late 1970s it was the Conservatives who dominated the political landscape as the Labour Party was left on the sidelines, seeming outwardly communist. It seemed that there was no opposition to the Conservatives’ policies and consequently they ended up doing what they wanted, to the detriment of many ordinary working families.

Eventually, the Labour Party made a comeback, but only by separating itself from the principles which had made it the party of the working class. Labour became ‘new’ Labour and seemed to be more concerned about looking after the interests of big business than creating a fairer, more equal society. It became difficult to see a difference between Labour and the Conservatives, so that many people wondered if there was any point in voting at all.

To make matters worse, UK politicians have been caught abusing their expenses, making claims for items that have no place on an expenses form. Ordinary taxpayers have been paying for politicians to have their homes redecorated and for an assortment of household goods when politicians are already earning far more than the average salary. As far as most people are concerned, politicians have very few principles and are more interested in bettering themselves than doing what is best for the country and for ordinary people. If the system we have in place employs people who are supposed to be competent and care about the country then why was an expenses scandal in the first place.

There are very few politicians willing to stand up what they believe in, as most don’t believe in anything and decide which cause to support based on opinion polls and focus groups. Ambition for power and money seems to be the driving force behind most political action, something which the general public is very aware of. Consequently, most people do not see a reason to vote when politicians look and act the same and are only interested in protecting and furthering their own interests. To quote Brand again:

People for the first time in a generation are aware of massive, corporate and economic exploitation. These things are not nonsense. And these subjects are not being addressed. No one is doing anything about tax havens, no one is doing anything about their political affiliations and financial affiliations of the Conservative Party, so until people start addressing things that are actually real, why wouldn’t I be facetious, why would I take it seriously? Why would I encourage a constituency of young people that are absolutely indifferent to vote? 

As far as many people are concerned, politicians are all the same: superficial, all from the same background, all in it for the money and power and all willing to change their image for power. The main problem, Is that they are effectively all the same people: Oxbridge graduates who have no experience of the working world but have gone straight into politics to climb the ladder of power.

“It won't be a bombshell if very large numbers of the electorate simply don't bother to vote. People are sick of the tawdry pretences." Jeremy Paxman

Editor's note. Since this was written and first published, Jeremy Paxman has admitted he did not vote in the last election either.