Just Register is a national campaign to improve voter registration. Our analysis shows that the rates of voter registration across constituencies aren’t equal. This can lead to huge differences in people’s access to their MP, and many constituents have less representation in Parliament as a result. That’s why we’re running a national assisted voter registration drive to help redress the balance, in partnership with civil society organisations, businesses and community groups.
The names and boundaries of constituencies are reviewed and updated periodically to reflect the numbers of people in them. The most recent Boundary Review took place in 2023 and has led to the names and boundaries of most areas changing for the next General Election.
Unlike in many other advanced democracies, constituency boundaries are drawn based on the number of registered voters in an area, not the total population. As a result, areas where voter registration is low are systematically underrepresented in Parliament.
There are 650 constituencies in Parliament. The 2023 Boundary Review process was meant to ensure that these constituencies represent roughly similar numbers of electors. Yet our analysis shows not all constituencies are equal when you take into account the population actually living in an area — not just registered voters.
We chose to rank constituencies from 1-650 to show the huge disparities that exist between constituencies with unequal rates of registration. The lower the voter registration rank, the more the population is under-represented in Parliament. The higher the voter registration rank, the better represented that community is.
Based on the 2023 boundaries, the least represented constituency is Birmingham, Ladywood with 151,867 residents and just 76,585 registered voters (50%). In contrast, Macclesfield, just 70 miles away, has 95,571 residents and 75,881 registered voters (79%). This is a difference of over 55,000 people in one area.
MPs in areas of low voter registration have to serve more constituents and handle more casework. This is because they serve the full population, not just those registered on the electoral roll. This means constituents have less time to have their concerns heard, less access to their MPs and get less representation in Parliament.
This discrepancy can have a particularly heavy impact on communities that are marginalised, or have less access to political power. 1 in 3 younger people, 1 in 4 Black or Asian people, and almost half of renters are not registered to vote. As a result, they are under-represented in Parliament. This not only has an impact on electoral outcomes, it affects other aspects of our society too. For example, you can’t serve on a jury panel if you’re not on the electoral register.
First we need to get as many eligible people as possible registered on the electoral roll. Even if you don’t vote, registering helps to make our democracy fairer by influencing the size of MPs’ constituencies. It would also give people more equal access to their MPs.
Right now, MPs in diverse inner-city seats with lower registration rates have to serve a much larger population than MPs in older, rural seats with higher registration rates. No matter where you live, you should be represented equally.
That’s why our campaign is running an assisted national registration drive with community groups and civil society organisations across the country to increase the number of people on the electoral roll.
If every eligible person gets onto the electoral register, we’d have more equally represented constituencies. The total number of people represented by each MP wouldn’t vary dramatically like it does now. In practice, you’d have better access to your MP and more timely support from them when you need it. While the next review of constituencies and their boundaries isn’t due for a few more years, getting more people registered is the practicable step we can take right now to make our democracy fairer long-term.
Even if your constituency has a high degree of registration, getting on the register has a number of benefits:
We can get everyone registered for a start. Right now, around 8 million people or 16% of eligible voters in the UK are not on the electoral register. Every person we sign up helps build a fairer democracy, now and well into the future.
There are five protected constituencies: Isle of Wight (two seats), Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney and Shetland, and Ynys Môn. At the 2023 Boundary Review, these islander communities were protected to make sure they weren’t combined with constituencies on the mainland. Population numbers for these constituencies are therefore much smaller compared to the remaining 645 constituencies in the UK.