MEPs are virtually invisible to UK electorate, study finds

Date: 22/05/03

By Martin Banks

ASK most UK voters who their MEP is and they haven't a clue - and that situation is likely to get worse, according to a new study.

It found that the 'party list' system of proportional representation introduced in Britain ahead of the 1999 elections to the European Parliament had not increased the visibility of MEPs.

For its domestic parliamentary elections, the UK uses a 'first-past-the-post' system under which each of the 659 constituencies elects just one MP, making it easier for a member to raise their profile at the local level.

This is much harder for MEPs who win seats based on the percentage polled by their party in the 12 electoral regions forming the super-constituencies used in European elections, states the study by researchers from the universities of Manchester and Aberyswyth.

That results in a "thinning effect" in the relationship between MEPs and the electorate, which is likely to become more pronounced as a result of next year's enlargement. Then, the UK will have only 72 seats, compared to the present 87.

The report's co-author, Professor David Farrell, said: "The introduction of PR [proportional representation] had substantial and immediate effects on who was elected. The UK contingent became more proportional in party terms and the number of parties represented rose from four to seven.

"But there are also indications that, with substantially larger European constituencies, MEPs now place less importance on representing individual voters and more on representing their party.

"Overall, it would seem that the greater proportionality in the electoral system for the European Parliament has led to MEPs being less visible to their voters and a reduced role for constituency work.

"Turnout was just 23 in 1999 and it remains to be seen whether this invisibility leads to an even lower turnout next year," added Farrell.

Responding to the report, UK Socialist MEP Neena Gill, one of eight MEPs who represent over five million people in the West Midlands, said: "It's always been a struggle for MEPs to raise their profile and the fact that the West Midlands is such a huge area makes it hard to be identified with the old constituencies.

"But it is not fair to say we place less importance on representing constituents."