United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is high-performing in all four categories of the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) framework. The UK performs in the top 25 per cent globally in almost all factors, with the exception of Electoral Participation, Personal Integrity and Security, Elected Government and Inclusive Suffrage. Between 2018-2023, the UK has significantly declined in Access to Justice, including measures of judicial corruption, as well as Rule of Law and Predictable Enforcement, affecting impartial public administration and transparent laws. It boasts the world’s sixth-largest economy, featuring a robust service industry (particularly retail, hospitality and financial sectors), although it has the highest income inequality of any major European economy.
The UK was formed through unions of England and Wales with Scotland in 1707 and subsequently with Ireland in 1801. The UK’s national identity has over the years been challenged by Jacobite rebellions in Scotland, nationalist movements in Ireland and, more recently, an unsuccessful Scottish independence referendum and greater devolution of power to the constitutive nations. The UK withdrew from the European Union following a 2016 referendum in which a narrow majority of voters opted to leave the bloc. The departure process, known colloquially as 'Brexit', has had a profound political impact on the country, revealing new social divisions. Immigration from across the Commonwealth and from Europe has over time added new layers of diversity and identity to the UK’s nations, as immigrants brought with them new languages and religions. Previous tolerance of such diversity has been eroded as multiculturalism and other liberal values have increasingly been contested by politicians and voters. Legislation passed in 2023 banned irregular migrants from seeking asylum, requiring their detention and deportation either to their country of origin or to a “safe third country.” Accommodation for asylum-seekers has in certain cases been criticised as unsafe. At the same time, an economic-geographical division has grown out of the concentration of governance and economic productivity in London and its hinterlands, which has produced some of the highest levels of regional inequality in the developed world.
The UK is high-performing in Gender Equality. Women’s representation in the House of Commons for the first time surpassed 40 per cent in the 2024 general election, and soon afterwards the UK got its first female Chancellor. However, violence against women is a persistent challenge, and the prevalence of sexual assault has increased compared to 2014. The UK is in many ways advanced in LGBTQIA+ rights, and removed barriers to access to IVF for same-sex couples in 2023, yet hate crimes have been on the rise against transgender people, alongside growing divisive rhetoric and embattled health services.
There are three concerning developments to watch in the years to come. The first is the erosion of Civil Liberties and Social Group Equality evident in the weakening of the rights of asylum seekers, immigrants, dual nationals and those born abroad. Violent riots that spread across the UK in 2024, targeting accommodation for asylum-seekers and minority-owned businesses, are likely to exacerbate social divisions. Social Group Equality is also likely to be impacted by the Electoral Commission’s recent findings that updated voter identification requirements disenfranchise voters - with particularly high hurdles faced by voters with disabilities, ethnic minority voters, and people belonging to low-income groups. Finally, it will be important to watch Gender Equality, including concerns about the impacts on victims of domestic abuse of recent measures in response to prison overcrowding, as well as concerns around online harassment of women electoral candidates.
Last updated: August 2024
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
April 2025
Supreme Court ruling clarifies interpretation of the Equality Act
On 16 April, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terminology used in the 2010 Equality Act refers to biological sex. It also invalidated the 2022 Scottish government guidance that rules regarding gender representation on public boards should allow for the inclusion of transgender women with a gender recognition certificate. The case was brought by campaign group For Women Scotland. On 22 May, UN human rights experts warned the judgment risks causing legal uncertainty and undermining transgender rights, saying it could justify exclusionary policies and lead to increased discrimination. Concerns were also raised about interim guidance issued on 25 April by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), interpreting the ruling as allowing exclusion of individuals from single-sex spaces based on biological sex. The EHRC is updating its Code of Practice to clarify the duties of public bodies, service providers and associations under the Equality Act. A public consultation is open until 30 June.
Sources: Cable News Network, British Broadcasting Company, The Supreme Court, The Guardian, UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, OHCHR, The Conversation
March 2025
Welsh government responds to proposals tackling deliberate political deception
In March, the Welsh government provided its responses to 11 recommendations for disqualifying members of the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception. The proposals were published by the Senedd’s Standards of Conduct Committee in February, and follow a government commitment to introduce legislation before the 2026 Senedd elections, made in July 2024 and re-affirmed in December. As part of its responses, the government pledged to introduce legislation, including a recall system allowing voters to remove Senedd members who breach the parliamentary Code of Conduct from office between elections, and to strengthen the independence of the Senedd’s standards process. The government called for further consultation on a proposal to create a new electoral offence for deliberately misleading statements by candidates in Senedd elections, and began assessing impacts on the justice system and electoral law. The government’s responses were debated in the Senedd on 2 April.
Sources: Senedd (1), Senedd (2), Senedd (3), Nation Cymru, Llywodraeth Cymru, British Broadcasting Cooperation, The Conversation
November 2024
Final asylum-seekers leave Bibby Stockholm
The final group of asylum-seekers moved out of Bibby Stockholm, a barge used to house 500 people in unsafe conditions, on 26 November 2024. Asylum-seekers have been gradually relocated from the barge since July 2024, when the government announced its decision not to renew the contract with Bibby Marine, the shipping operations company that owns Bibby Stockholm. Those whose asylum claims are still pending will be provided accommodation elsewhere in the UK. The barge is set to leave UK waters after the lease expires on 8 January 2025, after a year and a half moored in Dorset. An inquest into the death of Albanian asylum-seeker Leonard Farruku on the barge in December 2023 is scheduled to open in September 2025.
Sources: The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Home Office, International IDEA
October 2024
Agreement reached to return Chagos to Mauritius
On 3 October, the governments of the UK and Mauritius agreed to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, marking the return of the UK’s last African colony. The deal recognizes Mauritius’s sovereignty over the archipelago, while the UK retains control of the Diego Garcia island for the next 99 years to support a US military base there. The UK separated Chagos from Mauritius when the country gained independence from Britain in 1968. The UK leased the archipelago to the US, resulting in the forced expulsion of the Chagossian population between 1965 and 1973. Chagossian Voices, a community organisation, condemned its exclusion from the negotiations. The UK has committed to establishing a trust fund for the descendants of the 1,500 Chagossians exiled from the islands. The deal comes after years of legal challenges brought by Chagossians and a 2019 International Court of Justice advisory opinion calling for the return of the islands to Mauritius.
Sources: The Conversation, Al Jazeera, BBC, UK Government, UN News
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