Majority of people are dissatisfied with ‘self-interested’ political parties

MORE THAN three quarters of people are dissatisfied with political parties, research by the University of Sheffield has revealed.

The top words people surveyed used to describe political parties included “unrepresentative,” “undemocratic,” “self-interested” and “divided”.

A total of 77 per cent of those surveyed said they were fairly or very dissatisfied with parties.

Researchers gathered data through a survey administered by YouGov and three public workshops.

They produced a report called What People Want to See in Parties Today and identified the seven main desired qualities: transparency, communication, reliability, principles, inclusivity, accessibility and integrity.

Dr Luke Temple, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Geography, said: “There was a perception that parties mislead the electorate and, once in office, could not be trusted to deliver their promises.

“They were also seen to suffer minimal consequences because, by the time of the next election most people have forgotten and therefore didn’t vote them out.

“From this perspective, people desired parties that were trustworthy, reliable and stick to their promises; feeling that these were essential characteristics given people’s inability to hold parties to account between elections.”