By Dr. James Weinberg, PhD, University of Sheffield — The Conversation UK — 16 October 2021
The killing of British Conservative MP David Amess — stabbed to death at his constituency surgery on 15 October — is a deeply tragic moment for democracy. What makes it even more devastating is that such a catastrophic failure is not without precedent or predictability. Labour MP Jo Cox was shot at her constituency surgery in 2016. Before her, another Labour MP, Stephen Timms, survived a stabbing in 2010. Police officer Keith Palmer died in a 2018 attack on the Palace of Westminster. Between these critical junctures, elected representatives must live with an increasingly insidious level of popular cynicism that threatens violence on an almost daily basis. A recent Hansard Society audit of political engagement concluded that “opinions of the systems of governing are at their lowest point in the 15-year Audit series — worse now than in the aftermath of the MPs’ expenses scandal.”
As part of an ongoing study of trust and governance in five democracies, Dr. Weinberg carried out more than 50 in-depth interviews with junior and senior politicians in national legislatures. Almost 40% of interviewees were able to cite more than one instance of serious abuse or threats of physical violence. In the UK general election of 2017, 56% of surveyed parliamentary candidates expressed concern about abuse and intimidation, and 31% said they had felt “fearful” during the campaign. Misuse of anonymous social media accounts has intensified these problems. Women politicians, and Black and minority ethnic women in particular, experience a disproportionate share of sexualised abuse online and more aggressive threats offline. The solutions are complex: while increased security measures are welcome, political contact between politicians and the public is at the very heart of effective democratic representation. Ultimately there is no place for political violence, harassment or intimidation in a functioning democracy. “Whatever their political views, nobody who has the courage to step into the arena deserves to fear for their life in the pursuit of public service,” Weinberg concludes.