Thread by @hackneylad

I was on @BBCNewsnight last night to talk about voter apathy this election - and why, after decades of being told by politicians that bold, radical ideas have no place in grown-up political discourse, it's no wonder that many feel alienated from electoral politics. Here's pt1...

...and this is pt2. Point is that for too long we've lived under a system that tries to hive great areas of public life to the market - things that are contested and subject to political antagonism. Voters have been made to feel like passive consumers rather than political agents

For people whose lives have become steadily harder, and who have seen lines of democratic accountability blur and fade at both the local and national level, it's hard to put much faith in the link between a trip to the ballot box once every few years and meaningful change.

But for all that, we shouldn't mistake a wariness of politicians and political institutions on the one hand with generic 'political apathy' on the other. I've never met anyone who is apathetic about politics, about how the distribution of power and resources shapes their lives.

As I pointed out on Newsnight, the media has played a big role in driving popular scepticism about elections by routinely presenting politics as an elite spectator sport - something that happens 'over there' in Westminster rather than in our homes, workplaces and communities.

The reality is that right now we are in a moment of supreme political possibility: the ideological gulf between the two major parties is wider that at any point in living memory. The challenge, especially for Labour, is to communicate that to those marginalised for too long.

What's more, as mentioned here & explore much further in my book, other forms of political mobilisation are unfolding all over the country beyond Westminster and off the radar of lobby correspondents. To reinvigorate electoral politics, politicians should be looking towards them.

A final shout-out to the grassroots movements doing brilliant work seeking out and registering communities who are under-represented on the electoral roll.

@genrentuk, @LDNRentersUnion, @NEF & others are signing up private tenants to a renter manifesto... rentermanifesto.org

...@NewSocialistUK have created information sheets to inform mental health inpatients and others of their right to vote and to help get them registered... mhvote19.co.uk

...and finally @labhomeless_cam & @LGBTIQoutside are leading the drive to get homeless people voting: with homelessness rising every year under this govt, that's never been more vital.

There's more on all this in @SophieHemery's great @novaramedia article novaramedia.com/2019/11/14/act…

oh, and solidarity with all those who love their political punditry with a side-helping of @AyoCaesar retweets and absolute blather 😉