The one map that shows how 'non-voting' would have won the general election if it were a party
Voter turnout rises to 66.1 per cent, but non-voters still outweigh support for any one party
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.If everyone who did not vote in this week’s General Election had voted for a specific party, it would have held a majority in the House of Commons.
Voter turnout was the highest in this week’s election since the Labour landslide in 1997, with 66.1 per cent of the electorate going to the polls, but this would not have stopped the so-called ‘Apathy Party’ achieving power.
Rural areas were more forceful in support of the Conservatives, whereas within cities voter apathy was higher in the electorate than support for any one party.
Voting was particularly high in Scotland as the rise of the SNP saw a large turnout. Two seats the SNP gained from Labour, Dunbartonshire East and Renfrewshire East, saw turnouts above 80 per cent.
345 seats had more non-voters in the constituency electorate than the party who won had of votes. In the scenario that The Conservatives would have retained 208 seats and the SNP would have retained 50.
While there is no guarantee that the apathy vote would have substantially changed the result of the election, as there is no certainty they would have disproportionally favoured one party over the rest of their constituency, the figures indicate that the Apathy Party still dominates British politics.
The Conservatives enjoyed a majority victory in the election with 331 seats. Prime Minister David Cameron will form a government in the coming days, after Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and Nigel Farage resigned as party leaders.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments