Unconquered Peaks

In every general election since 1955, at least 1/5 of the British electorate have not cast their vote.

In the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson’s government won the biggest Conservative majority since 1987 with 80 seats, winning 43.6% of the popular vote. However, commonly reported figures like these are misleading. If the huge number of the electorate who did not vote are taken into account, the Conservative Party no longer has a majority across the country, instead winning the support of only 29.7% of the electorate. In fact, non-voters outweighed Conservative voters by 1,097,482 people, as 32.7% of potential votes were not cast. This low voter turn-out calls into question the mandate that Boris Johnson’s government claims. If government legitimacy derives from representing the ‘majority’, then an imaginary party representing non-voters would be the most representative and the most legitimate party of them all.

The popularity of the British monarchy has constantly fluctuated with the successes and scandals brought about every year regarding specific members of the family. More recently, we can look at Prince Andrew, for example, and his involvement in the Epstein scandal, though he is yet to be held accountable. Despite him arguably not being a fair representation of the family, the damage made to the public image was significant and it shifted the narrative around the family. We’ve seen this far more prominently in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, who have provided the biggest source of interest and speculation for royalists and abolitionists alike. However, their sudden move from their traditional, intimate home in London to the celebrity-ridden, flashy Los Angeles has reignited a debate of whether the royal family is a toxic, corrupted and scandal-drenched household or whether it is conversely a structure that maintains dignity, and simply had a pivotal discussion with the couple about their duties and desire in the family.