TONY TRAVERS&TOM CLARK
A century has passed since the first universal suff rage election. We’ve considered the vote a basic right ever since, but some British residents are still very much more equal than others where politics is concerned. Children aren’t eligible, of course, nor are four million (mostly foreign) adults: but their interests still need representing. On top of that is another significant—if hard to count—chunk who are not registered.
Significantly, none of these groups are randomly spread around. Young and diverse inner cities tend to have more non-voting residents than more sparsely populated regions. Differences between the nations of the UK in the actual electors required for a parliamentary seat compound the gulf.