Michael Kelly: Political system that ticks all the wrong boxes

Voters have sent a clear message, which party leaders have ignored. No wonder cynicism rules among electors who wants a say, writes Michael Kelly

Recent elections results around Europe provide further fuel for those who despair of the widening gulf between politicians and the voters who put them in power. Across the UK there could not have been a clearer indication of a lack of confidence in both of the UK coalition parties. They were a decisive rejection of the policies of austerity.

The coalition was a cynical attempt by the Lib Dems to grab a share of the power that had always passed them by. Two years on when voters see that “clearing up the mess” has meant attacks on public services, intolerable queues at airports, granny taxes, pasty taxes, an income tax cut for the rich and a failure to tackle bank bonuses, they want no part of it. So a message was sent through the ballot box. Change course. The voters could not have been more direct, especially in the anger vented on the Lib Dems for betraying their principles and roots.

Hopeful voters could have expected a response to such a damning verdict – a U-turn, a commitment to moderate the effects of harsh policies on those least able to bear them, a commitment to push growth further up the agenda. They didn’t even get a whiff of contrition, never mind a firm purpose of amendment. The first words out the of the Prime Minister’s mouth were to confirm there would be no change in direction. He reiterated his determination to “take difficult decisions”. It didn’t seem to matter whether they we right or wrong. He wanted to be portrayed as willing to make tough choices.

His deputy, leader of the dead and buried Lib Dems misled even further. “We are not pursing these policies for ideological reasons”, he claimed. “We are not pursuing them to reduce the role of the state.” As far as the Tories are concerned that is blatantly untrue. It’s in their DNA. It has also been the avowed the thrust of the coalition’s policies for the past two years – to push back the encroachment of the state and to allow the private sector to fill the gap and so paying off their pals and supporters in big business. The fact Clegg has the gall to take that stance shows his contempt for voters’ intelligence. The fact that both of them tried to claim that the anti-austerity policies advocated by incoming French President Francois Hollande are ones they support will at least be tested soon. Who will they side with the socialist or [German chancellor] Angela Merkel? Who do you think?

This is the breeding ground of cynicism. The fact that politicians feel able with such indifference to shrug off a message from electors demonstrates how little they care about voter disillusionment. They see views as volatile and they usually have plenty of electoral bribes up their sleeves to turn things round in time for the next election. This was the Tories modus operandi through the 1950s and early 60s. They called elections in tune with the trade cycle knowing economic well-being would ensure the return of the ruling party no matter how much pain was suffered in the downswing, non-election years. That was the plan the Tories reverted to in 2010 – four years of cutbacks, one of growth, and we’ll be back, on our own.

Politicians have always responded to rejection of their policies at by-elections or local government elections by arguing that their mandate at a general election entitled them to carry on until the next big national showdown. And, it has been the cornerstone of the defence of representative democracy which, bluntly, is based on the assumption that the people cannot, through ignorance of the facts or lack of expertise, be trusted to make detailed policy decisions. Give them some sort of general say every so often and the system will work. And it has.

But in the 21st century it is increasingly difficult to defend a system designed for 19th-century society. It is impossible to avoid voter cynicism. Government is much more open. The inner workings of decision-making are much better understood. The electorate is better educated. So it should be treated much more respectfully.

These days everyone is an expert. And everyone expects their opinion to be taken into account. They get facts – and fictions – from the internet and social networking. Their opinions are constantly being sought by all sections of the media. Their tweets appear in newspapers. Their views are read out on TV and radio. No wonder they expect politicians to be listening and to respond.

One argument for introducing proportional representation was that it would produce results more in keeping with sophisticated electors’ wishes. It hasn’t, of course. It has led to confusion and even more cynicism.

How can voters rationalise that Edinburgh will be run by a Labour/SNP coalition, that Labour and Tories will run East Lothian and that a rainbow coalition of the whole lot will take control of Midlothian. The system has taken principles out of politics and confirmed many people’s suspicion that “they are all the same”. Why not be cynical?

If the economic climate in Europe gets any worse more and more countries will start producing results like Greece. More, smaller parties with such intransigent positions succeeding will make coalition government difficult if not impossible. Are the stances of the various Greek parties to be admired because they refuse to negotiate away the policies on which they were elected? Or are they to be condemned because they risk economic catastrophe and the collapse of stable government in a country where military dictatorships are all too recent?

Politicians are as cynical about voters as voters are about politicians. If voters could be less demanding and politicians more open about how limited their powers are, things might be moderated. It was encouraging to hear French left-wing voters understand that Hollande would not deliver on all he promised because the nature of politics prevented his doing so. That level of education would moderate cynicism. But the average British voter is a long way from that.