Politics

Street politics: how Britain is failing a hidden cohort of homeless non-voters

Although homeless Britons are eligible to vote, figures suggest less than 1 per cent are registered to do so. Speaking to homeless people in my university town helped me understand why

June 06, 2019
A homeless man on the streets of Westminster. Photo: PA
A homeless man on the streets of Westminster. Photo: PA

The average homeless person supports the Green Party, is anti-immigration and thinks that Theresa May is Margaret Thatcher 2.0. At least, that’s what my study interviewing 26 homeless people in my university town would suggest.

Of course, this doesn’t reflect the breadth of political opinion within the homeless community. Then again, neither does British democracy. In the UK, the homeless don’t vote, despite technically having the right to do so through a declaration of local connection. Only 0.9 per cent—2963 people—of the over 320,000 homeless people Shelter estimates are in the UK were registered to vote at the last general election in 2017. This is dramatically low and prompts the question: why?

The homeless have many unique and well-documented challenges, ranging from mental health and drug abuse to quite simply being more concerned with finding something to eat or, in the case of rough sleepers, a warm bed.

You might think that this is at the root of their lack of voting and political activity. Talking with homeless people, however, suggests a far simpler answer: they don’t know they can vote, nor how to do so.

Lachlan is a talkative 62-year old Scottish man who has been homeless for over 40 years. With no encouragement whatsoever, he expresses informed opinions on Brexit, knife crime in London and allegations of anti-Semitism within the Labour party. Having said this, despite having moved around the UK—“Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, London and Canterbury,” to name a few—he is unaware of his right to vote. He knows nothing of the registration process and has never been talked to or informed about his rights.

Lachlan’s story isn’t unique. Of the 26 homeless people that I talked to, only half of them knew they could vote (13/26) and only one knew about the extra processes needed in order to register, the declaration of local connection. On top of this, only one participant was ever talked to or encouraged to vote by homeless service providers or government initiatives.

Lachlan isn’t the only one to have informed opinions or shown political interest. I discussed universal credit with a man who protested the Falklands war in 1982, and Brexit with a former member of the Youth Parliament Board. Unsurprisingly, most of the opinions were one of disdain for government or politics in general, expressing hate or anger at politicians. “I just don’t care, I hate the lot of them,” said Pinky, 32 and homeless since the age of 18.

The issue here isn’t one of managing to get every homeless person to vote but ensuring equal access. Of those I talked to, 9 expressed an interest in voting, having been informed and encouraged to do so, with one of those interested saying that he had “never received enough information.”

In this case, this research indicates something quite striking; government initiatives that try to encourage electoral access are failing this community, as are local and national government whose duty should be to ensure that every British citizen has a stake in the society they live in.

The way the homeless register to vote—the declaration of local connection—is tedious at best and uniquely difficult for the homeless. Up to a half of Britain’s homeless have some form of illiteracy according to the charity Mungo’s, and they are perhaps the least likely segment of the population to own a printer. Yet for them to register, they need to obtain or print out a 5-page form, filling out with a place of connection—such as a shelter—and then sending it to their local registration officer.

There is evidence of some activity and funding to address this problem. Government initiatives such as Your Vote Matters as well as large homeless charities like Shelter and Homeless Link do have guidelines on the register to vote for those without a permanent address. Other than that, however, there is scarce evidence of any other activity. Whilst millions of pounds are invested in enfranchising expats living abroad, who were given a vote for life in 2017, the only evidence of funding for enfranchising the homeless was 100,000 pounds of government funding given to Homeless Link in 2015.

It is clear that this is not enough and that the funds and efforts are misdirected since this money is failing at the first hurdle: informing the homeless of their right to vote in the first place.

Voting is a fundamental human right. It is expressed in the UK Representation of the People Act as well as the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which declares that everyone has the right of equal access.

Public and media discourse on the homeless community often treats them as a problem to solve rather than people who deserve human dignity, respect and a say in how the society they live in is run. The stories I uncovered, and the low registration rate, show the consequences of this approach.

Perhaps the process to register is a barrier and long-term solutions should look at a simpler method. Even this, however, is in vain if we don’t start with something very simple: informing every UK citizen, regardless of their current situation, that they have a stake in society, that their vote matters.

Find out more about how people with no fixed address can register to vote