‘Black and Brown people were shut out of voting by Tory voter ID laws this election – we must scrap them now’

Black and Brown people were shut out of voting by Tory voter ID laws this election – this is why they should be scrapped now.

Today’s King’s Speech brought forward legislation that will protect workers rights, nationalise our railways and tackle poverty after 14 years of Tory cruelty. This must be celebrated. 

Whilst mention was made of strengthening the integrity of elections and encouraging wide participation in the democratic process – I  was saddened not to hear an explicit mention of a Democracy Bill. But it’s not too late to rid us of these racist Tory voter ID laws before the next local elections. 

Stats from last month’s General Election show that people of colour were 2.5 x more likely to be stopped from voting – this is a mess Labour can fix now we are in power. As the party of ordinary workers, of diverse communities, we owe it to people to act like it.

The Democracy Bill had been said to include automatic voter registration – finally ridding us of the ridiculous voter registration process which makes it harder for people to have their say. It had also been set to include votes for 16s and I hoped it would scrap Voter ID laws. 

‘Gerrymandering’ in the UK

As a Black Labour MP, I understand how much work our party and our country still needs to do to build trust within our communities. Black and Brown people continue to face systematic discrimination from public bodies and systematic exclusion from our democratic processes.  

According to a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, over 75% of Black people in the UK do not believe their human rights are equally protected. This is damning and underlines why plans to reform voter legislation must go ahead.

A survey from More in Common estimates that more than 400,000 people were prevented from voting in the general election due to these undemocratic Tory rules.

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The same research shows people of colour were 2.5 times more likely to be turned away. Let’s be clear: any law that disproportionately stops Black and Brown people from participating in democracy is racist.  

The Tories implemented these laws in the knowledge that Black and Brown people were  freehistorically more likely to vote Labour and less likely to own photo ID. Don’t take my word for it – Jacob Rees Mogg himself admitted that these rules were an attempt to “gerrymander” our electoral system. They come right out of the Republican playbook and are yet another example of the vile racism I’ve experienced in politics.   

The Tories introduced Voter ID laws on the pretence of tackling voter fraud. Yet between 2017 and 2022, when they were introduced, there were just 18 convictions. Compare this to the 400,000 people blocked from the ballot box. 

Getting out the vote

The 2024 election saw the lowest turnout since the introduction of universal suffrage. With laws like these in place, it’s no wonder. The Conservatives have effectively shut people out of our democratic process. Our new Labour government now has an opportunity to bring them back in.  

If our democracy is going to work for everyone, it has to include everyone. I believe scrapping the Tories’ exclusionary Voter ID laws is another urgent priority to strengthen engagement in the democratic process.  

After all, this is about the kind of society we want to be and the kind of government Labour wants to be. Do we want a Britain where certain communities are systematically excluded from the democratic process?

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Or do we want a truly inclusive democracy where every eligible individual can vote and make their voice heard? 

The Tories implemented these laws because they knew their policies could not win over a genuine majority of the country. But in democracies, voters choose their politicians; not the other way round.

A government with confidence in its own agenda should be looking to expand participation, a commitment which was explicitly made in today’s speech. Scrapping voter ID laws is a simple way to start this work and can be achieved with a simple amendment to the Elections Act 2020. We must do this with urgency before the next local elections.

Let’s build a democracy that truly represents all of Britain. Our communities demand it – and our democracy desperately needs it.

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