Just over half of British adults voted in the 2024 general election, marking the lowest turnout by share of the population since universal suffrage, a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) revealed on Friday.

In further detail, IPPR found that only 52% of UK adults cast their ballots on July 4, the lowest since the voting rights were extended to all adults over 21 in 1928. This turnout is also the lowest since 2001 when measured as a proportion of registered voters.

The institute noted that the actual turnout is even lower when considering the entire adult population, suggesting that if non-voters were a political party, it would have the largest support by far.

Why it matters

Amid concerns over low turnout, Labour is planning an elections bill next week after promising reform. It is expected to lower the voting age to 16 from 18 and introduce automatic voter registration – to make it easier for people to turn up at a polling station and cast their ballot.

The IPPR report also found that seats where a larger share of the population were older people, white, and wealthy homeowners had much higher turnout rates than constituencies where a smaller share of people came from those demographics.

It calculated that turnout was 11% higher in constituencies with the highest proportion of over 64-year-olds, compared with the lowest. Turnout was also 13% higher in constituencies with the highest proportion of homeowners.

In terms of ethnicity and religion, turnout was 7% lower in constituencies with the largest proportion of people from minority ethnic backgrounds compared to those with the smallest proportion. It was also 10% lower in constituencies with the highest proportion of Muslims.

Dive deeper

Concerns have long existed about increasing voter participation to enhance democratic outcomes, yet the previous Conservative government added an extra barrier by requiring photo ID. Last week’s polling suggested that over 400,000 people might have been unable to vote in the general election due to lacking the necessary ID, with those from minority ethnic communities being more than twice as likely to face this issue.

According to a survey by More In Common, 3.2% of respondents reported being turned away at least once last Thursday. If this percentage is reflective of the entire UK, it would mean over 850,000 people were affected. More than half of these individuals either did not return to vote or returned and still could not cast their ballot.

Labour, should it come to power, is not committing to changing this policy, but may consider expanding the list of acceptable documents. Currently, the list includes six types of passes for older people but no equivalent passes for younger individuals.

Read more: UK's Conservative Party expects landslide loss in snap elections