DEMOS

Speakers:
Sayeeda Warsi, Conservative Party Vice-Chairman (Cities)
Nicholas Boles, Director, Policy Exchange
Iain Dale, Politicos
Chair: Madeleine Bunting, Director, Demos

‘They don’t live in the real world’; ‘what they talk about has no relevance to my life’; ‘they’re all the same’; ‘what planet are they on?’

These are the kinds of comments many voters make about politicians. They’ve become deaf to, and profoundly cynical of, our current political language – what their politicians say and how they say it. Sometimes this alienation is in contrast to the voters’ own sense of well-being in recent years; living standards may have risen; their experience of health and education services may have been good but they attribute little of these achievements to the politicians. There is a deep vein of resentment in some voters towards those who claim to represent them and speak for them.
It’s an issue which troubles all politicians rightly – it threatens their legitimacy and the long term health of democratic debate in this country. This event aims to engage leading politicians in thinking about what might be the causes of this alienation and how it can be overcome. Are there new ways to connect with voters? How can politicians inspire trust again? How can the relationship between politician and voter be rehabilitated? What kinds of emotional, personal and political engagement with their elected representatives are voters looking for – and how can politicians provide it?