Encouraging participation

This table shows the key themes mentioned are:
18% More integrity in politics
15% More knowledge / information
15% If it would make a real difference
10% Being younger / not disabled
9% Less combative environment
9% More welcoming / easier to get involved / more diversity
6% Involved in community public life already
3% It was more interesting
3% Other comment
27% had no comment or don’t know

“Politics not being so drama filled. The government is full of lies. People are unhappy and everyone is in crisis, it seems like signing myself up to misery and making decisions that means someone always loses.”

“Better opportunities meaningfully to inform more of the services I use.”

“Trusting that my voice would be heard and believing I could make a real difference.”

“Knowing that my voice is listened to and that ideas surrounding local and global issues are acted upon (global warming, hate speech, education) – I think a lot of students feel like their voices don’t matter because not many consultations reach them, and we see these long term issues that people just don’t seem to be solving as everyone’s focused on short term wins.”

“More honesty and transparency generally in Politics and Government and less Elitism.”

“Seeing more information about the positive action taken by councillors and hearing about the steps they have taken to consult with their audiences personally – not just photos of them turning up at events for 5 minutes.”